Dubai: Lapis lazuli, emeralds, saffron, marble, almonds, pistachios, carpets, leather, and the list of Afghan staples goes on. With a panoply of precious yield at its disposal, Afghanistan looks to a new era. Javid Ahmad, Afghanistan Ambassador to the UAE and Commissioner General of the Afghanistan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, hopes to firmly realign the nation's trajectory at the upcoming world fair launching on October 1, 2021.
“Afghanistan is going through a transition right now,” says Ahmad in an interview with Gulf News. “It’s in the midst of an ongoing US and Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) withdrawal. The government’s focus is to make Afghanistan self-reliant economically, and this is where Expo [2020 Dubai] comes in.”
The government’s focus is to make Afghanistan self-reliant economically, and this is where Expo [2020 Dubai] comes in.
A new chapter for Afghanistan
Just as the Afghanistan Pavilion is located in the heart of the Opportunity District, Ahmad sees the country’s participation as a timely opportunity to build relations.
The Expo-leased three-storey building will convey a story unique to Afghanistan, whose new chapter will open up avenues in trade and investment, presenting it as a viable partner to the world, hoped Ahmad.
“Afghanistan is a country of colours like any other country in the region of South Asia. We try to reflect the colours of our precious stones, from lapis lazuli and emeralds to granite and marble [at the pavilion],” explains Ahmad. “We use those colours as a reflection of a new Afghanistan, where we want to exhibit that it’s open to trade and commercial engagement in sectors like agriculture, IT, digitisation and aviation.”
Afghanistan is a country of colours like any other country in the region of South Asia. We try to reflect the colours of our precious stones [at the pavilion]
Afghan pavilion to put jewels on display
Upon walking into the pavilion, visitors will be greeted by cultural and commercial exhibits that will rotate on a monthly basis. With a strong emphasis on market building, the pavilion will see a myriad of firms from different Afghan industries bringing in assets native to the South Asian country.
Partners from the mining sector will put on displays of copper, cobalt and even gold, highlighting Afghanistan’s vast mineral deposits and reserves of precious stones. Indigenous produce by partners from the agricultural sector includes saffron, dried fruit such as pine nuts, almonds and pistachios.
While the third floor is occupied by pavilion personnel, the second floor is reserved for visitors interested in tasting Afghan cuisine including the famous Kabuli Pulao (a dish of steamed rice and lamb).
Those interested in investing in the exports of Afghanistan can head to the large meeting space next to the restaurant – a readily available platform for forming potential partnerships across borders.
Visits from all-girls robotics team, national orchestra and cricketers
Though the programme of events is still a work in progress, Ahmad says that some of Afghanistan’s fundamental achievements are set to be showcased as well. The plan includes introducing the world to the Afghan girls’ robotics team, the country’s globetrotting national orchestra and its cricket team.
Hailing from the western city of Herat, a robotics team of Afghan teenage girls received international limelight when they were denied entry into the US for the 2017 First Global Robotics Competition in Washington.
After securing a silver medal at the competition once the visa ban was lifted, followed by another win at the Estonian Robotics Festival, the girls continued their engineering feat beyond national borders and back home, building an inexpensive hand-operated ventilator from car parts for a pandemic-stricken Afghanistan last year.
“[The team] has managed to travel around the world, including the United States multiple times, which shows that Afghanistan has fundamentally changed,” comments Ahmad. “We’re hoping to bring them in for a day and design a programme around the visit.”
Nicknamed the Afghan Dreamers, the team is making history in a conservative nation, where girls make up 60 per cent of out-of-school children according to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef).
UAE, a trade avenue for Afghanistan
Ahmad expects the pavilion to have completed the last of its construction by August 15, 2021, just short of two months before the show kicks off. He says that the pavilion workflow has, fortunately, remained uninterrupted even amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Luckily, the pandemic has not affected our preparations because we complied with the rules and regulations placed by the Dubai government, but also because the Expo officials have been incredibly accommodating and supportive in that respect.”
Afghanistan is an overwhelmingly agrarian economy, where [farmers] grow [produce] and sell it straight to the markets, but we need to have that market space for our food to make it to the region. In this regard, our first avenue would be the UAE.
Post Expo 2020, the pavilion could evolve into a permanent platform exclusively dedicated to Afghan businesses. The proposal aims at repurposing the structure – a readily available, well-equipped space – going hand in hand with Dubai’s overarching goal of hosting the most sustainable world expo in history.
- The writer is an intern with Gulf News.
