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