Press Release

Trade Fair to Introduce Afghanistan’s Pomegranates to the World

Kabul, Afghanistan  | Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Businesspeople from around the country and the world will participate in the first World Pomegranate Fair on November 20, 2008, in the birthplace and crossroads of this ancient commodity.

The World Pomegranate Fair will take place at Badam Bagh Fair Site in Kabul on November 20, 2008.  This trade fair aims to connect people at all levels of the pomegranate value chain to explore the full range of pomegranate’s potential on display.

The World Pomegranate Fair will be attended by 40 international businesspeople from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, the Netherlands, the UK, and USA.  In addition, up to 75 national pomegranate producers, processors, and input suppliers will present their products.  The trade fair will provide a unique opportunity for pomegranate growers, processors, exporters, importers, and value-added manufacturers to make business deals and to promote Afghanistan’s pomegranate varieties.

By hosting the first World Pomegranate Fair in Afghanistan, the business community will capitalize not only on the pomegranate’s unusual appeal and health benefits that have been the subject of recent press and market enthusiasm, but also to publicize Afghanistan’s rich history as the genetic center of origin of the pomegranate.  The pomegranate has been refined here through a millennia of cultivation in order to produce the largest number of varieties – including the Kandahari, Tagab, Farahi, and the seedless Bedana – that are good for eating fresh and for processing into juices, jams, sauces, and creams.

With world demand for pomegranates increasing, Afghanistan is ready with its substantial pomegranate production to benefit from foreign investment in infrastructure improvements such as cold-chain management and logistics, import/export brokerage, nursery development, and new cultivation techniques, as well as increased farming inputs such as environmentally safe pesticides.  Afghanistan is keen to benefit from its unique geographical position at the crossroads of Asia, where it sits next to booming middle-class consumer markets in India and China, and also to expand its exports to the Gulf, Japan, Europe, and North America. 

This fair is organized by the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce (AICC), the Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan (EPAA), the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA), and sposored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

More information on the World Pomegranate Fair can be found at:  www.agfair.af.