President of Trivision and Chairman of the Afghan- American Chamber of Commerce (AACC), Mr. Sulaiman Lutfi, alongside the AACC committee held its 9th Annual U.S. – Afghanistan Business Matchmaking Conference (BMC) on December 1-3 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
The goal of the conference was to facilitate promotion of business-to-business relationships, the cornerstone of investment and trade between the U.S. and Afghanistan, and a key factor in achieving stability in Afghanistan. This year’s BMC included presentations and panel discussions by U.S. and Afghan business and government leaders, covering sectors including mining and natural resources, agribusiness, information and communications technologies (ICT), construction and infrastructure, energy and power, transportation and logistics, and women in the Afghan economy.
The Conference hosted high-level officials from various Afghan Ministries: Mining, Agriculture, Information & Communications, and Finance. From the USG:USAID; DoD – including Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Business Stability Task Force (TFBSO), OSD, USACE; Department of Commerce (DOC), State Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, OPIC and other organizations to facilitate promotion of business-to-business relationships and investment and trade between the U.S. and Afghanistan. Also present were top- officers of a wide range of Afghan companies.
Attendees had the opportunity to gain knowledge focused on their specific business interests from conference speakers, panelists and select attendees through one-on-one private networking sessions with representatives of the above organizations mentioned.
BMC also included a “Welcoming”, “Mix & Mingle” and “Awards” receptions on the evenings of Sunday, December 1st and Monday, December 2nd, 2013 across the street at the lavish JW Marriott. Mr. Sulaiman Lutfi had the honor of presenting “AACC Businessman of Year Award” to Steve Appleton from Appleton Consulting for successfully contributing to the private sector and market economy in Afghanistan.
The Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce is a non-governmental U.S. organization engaged in furthering business and development with the private sector in Afghanistan. Information about AACC and the Conference is available at www.a-acc.org.