The event was hosted by Hon. Beverly Oda, Minister of International Cooperation and CIDA’s Afghanistan Task Force (ATF). In addition to Minister Oda, Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade also spoke about trade and business opportunities between the two countries. Deputy Minister for ATF at Privy Council, David Mulroney, also attended the roundtable.

On the Afghan side, H.E. Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, Acting Minister of Finance and Senior Economic Advisor to the President, and Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad spoke about the current business, financial and economic climate in the country.

Other speakers included Mr. Habibullah Qaderi, Afghan Consul General, Toronto; Stephen Wallace, Vice President ATF, CIDA; Mr. Aziz Amiri, President of the Canada-Afghanistan Business Council; Mr. Khalil Sharif, Aga Khan Foundation Canada; Eng. Assad Oriakhel, SMART Engineering Team, Kabul; Dr. Hasina Rasuli, Director AGCC and representatives of several companies with business interests in Afghanistan.

The talks centered on agro-processing, natural resources and infrastructure ventures, considered as the most important pillars of private sector activities in the years to come. All participants agreed that creating the value-chain structures required for the marketability of Afghan goods and produce is of the highest order of importance.

Ambassador Samad pointed to macroeconomic growth and stability risks, as well as to weak indicators facing business activity in 2009. Calling corruption and low capacity as
“corrosive threats”, he proposed for approaches that are focused, pragmatic and realistic.

Minister Zakhilwal expressed confidence about the current business trends, pointing to the gains of the past few years in accordance with the national development strategy. He welcomed Canada’s engagement and asked for further investment to boost economic development in Afghanistan.

Participants also reiterated on the principles of an enabling environment by addressing private-public partnerships, grassroots initiatives, best practices, and capacity and institution building to make the business climate more competitive and efficient.

Participants thanked Ministers Oda and Day for their initiative and keen interest in promoting Afghan-Canadian business opportunities. It was decided to promote networking through other roundtables in the future.