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Turkmenistan

Exploratory Trade Trip to Afghanistan Yields $175,000 Deal for Turkmenistan

Local businessmen and TFI staff visited Afghanistan from August 1-8, 2004 to identify potential customers for locally produced Turkmen goods. The trip resulted in a US $175,000 trade deal.

In order to expand trade facilitation services to Afghanistan, a trade delegation composed of Turkmenistan Country Director Kyle Gunther, RTP/TK Advisor Vladislav Erniyazov, local businessman Tachmurad Nabatov and EDP Afghan Trade Task Force Advisor Khushvakht Rakhmikhudoev visited Afghanistan on August 1-8, 2004. The primary goal of the business trip was to locate potential customers for locally produced Turkmen goods, such as juice, dry milk, drinking water, sugar, tomato paste, ketchup, cookies and other confectionary products.

During time spent in the city of Herat, the trade delegation participated in a series of meetings with the local Chamber of Commerce, discussing competitive advantages and opportunities for outside investors into the Herat region. In addition to such meetings, the trade delegation met and discussed potential trade with local businessmen operating in the fields of retail and wholesale trade, construction, oil and gas, textile and other sectors. In addition to the trade mission, EDP’s trade advisor in Turkmenistan, Vladislav Erniyazov, continued his search for Turkmen companies that could fulfill requests of Afghan consumers in and around Herat and other Afghan cities. Concurrently, Turkmen goods were distributed by Khushvakht Rakhmikhudoev to other businessmen in the Kabul and Mazar-I-Sharif areas.

These efforts by Mr. Erniyazov and Mr. Rakhmikhudoev paid off in early 2005, when local Turkmen entrepreneur Islam Merzayev registered with EDP’s regional trade network and soon thereafter concluded a trade contract with an EDP-identified consumer in Kabul. Islam Merzayev, as a provider of a vast range of goods as construction and foodstuff within Turkmenistan, signed a contract with Mr. Hoji Moil, general director of Afghan “Bashir Navid” of Kabul on February 7, 2005. According to contract terms, Mr. Merzayev will provide 200 tons of tomato paste (22% and 28% pure paste) as well as nearly 20 tons lump sugar to the Afghan company, Bashir Navid, in late February 2005. The value of the deal is US $175,000.

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