COMMERCE MINISTER'S REVIEW OF AGOA FORUM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000712

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF, AF/E, AF/EPS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID EFIN DJ
SUBJECT: COMMERCE MINISTER'S REVIEW OF AGOA FORUM


1. (U) Summary: Ambassador called on Minister of Commerce,
Rifki Abdoulkader Bamakhrama, 26 July to discuss his
impressions of the AGOA Forum in Dakar, Senegal. Bamakhrama
was pleased with his experience in Dakar and said while it
was a very intense schedule, it was very educational and
useful. He noted that he had the chance to meet with several
persons from the official U.S. delegation, including Cindy
Courville, State, and Kevin Boyd from Commerce. Bamakhrama
spoke also to Rosa Whittaker and Mark Newman, who expressed
interest in a salt exportation project he proposed. He said
his main goals for the forum, outside of learning about AGOA,
were to seek support for a marketing study for salt
exportation, implementation of an artisan village, and
financial assistance for the 2006 COMESA Summit to be held in
Djibouti. End Summary.


2. (U) Ambassador, accompanied by Pol/Econ and Pol Assistant,
met July 26 with Minister of Commerce Rifki Abdoulkader
Bamakhrama to discuss the Minister's experience at the AGOA
Forum in Dakar, Senegal. Bamakhrama said the Forum was
well-organized, intense, and very useful. Aside from learning
about AGOA, he was there to explore options for three
upcoming projects in Djibouti: exportation of salt, creation
of an artisan village to sell and promote Djiboutian crafts,
and acquisition of financial assistance in support of the
2006 COMESA summit to be held in Djibouti. He mentioned he
met with Cindy Courville, Mark Newman of Limited Brands, Rosa
Whittaker, and Kevin Boyd from the U.S. Department of
Commerce. He stated that his meetings all went very well. He
was impressed with his meeting with Cindy Courville, as she
was already knowledgeable about the salt project Djibouti
would like to pursue. On this point, he was informed the
American market was very interested in the type of product
Djibouti could offer - bath salts and medicinal salts.
Bamakhrama said Courville mentioned companies such as Target
would be very interested in salts from Djibouti.


3. (U) Bamakhrama also spoke with a USAID representative
concerning the project for the artisan village. He said this
conversation also yielded positive results in that the
representative would be coming to Djibouti in early August to
examine the project and work on the concept with the Ministry
of Commerce. During this conversation, Bamakhrama also asked
the USAID representative for assistance in preparing the
COMESA Summit, which will be held in Djibouti in November

2006. Bamakhrama did not indicate that he received a response
during that meeting.


4. (U) Concerning his general impression of the Forum and its
organization, Bamakhrama noted that it was well-planned, but
offered two points of disappointment. He commented there was
a room set aside at the Forum for meeting with American
Businesses that could be potential partners. Requests for
this room had to be scheduled in advance of the Forum, but,
he said, there was no mention of this particular opportunity
in the information given to them upon arrival. Bamakhrama
also noted there were more sessions dedicated to Governments
than for private sector and civil society, two areas of which
he would have liked to attend more. He commented the days
were also very long and intense with so many seminars to
attend with each one telling participants theirs was better
than others.


5. (U) Commenting generally on AGOA for Djibouti, Bamakhrama
said there were more opportunities in AGOA than just salt.
For example, arts, crafts, volcanic geodes, and perlite - an
important component for the petrochemical industry. He
continued that for Djibouti to take advantage of AGOA and
trade with the U.S., it wanted to diversify its exportable
products, learn about U.S. procedures and taxes, and know the
U.S. market well. He also said the Ministry would like to
have a list of companies that would be interested in having
our products. Bamakhrama added there were many things that
Djibouti could do that are being done in other African
countries, such as assembly of clothing items. He said the
next step for Djibouti was to identify what can be exported,
talk to partner businesses, and do a mission to the U.S. to
really learn how to work with the U.S. market.


6. (U) Ambassador thanked the Minister for his brief and
indicated that the Embassy would like to assist him and
Djibouti as much as it can to take advantage of opportunities
offered by AGOA. She noted that she had already been in
contact with a key State Department person on possible
American links in the bath salt industry (AF/EPS Ada Adler)
and would follow-up. She also noted continuing obstacles in
Djibouti to full foreign business participation such as high
salaries and the high cost of energy that must be overcome.
These were obstacles the Minister believed Djibouti could
overcome. He expressed appreciation in advance for assistance
the Embassy can render.
RAGSDALE