CeBIT Ends With Success For Afghanistan

On Sunday 9 March at 12pm, Afghanistan’s first ever participation in the largest technology exhibition CeBIT came to an end after six days. Afghanistan achieved tremendous amount of encouragement and appreciation for its rapid advancement in the ICT sector from the world wide media. The exhibition however served more of a purpose than just media attention. Under the umbrella of the National ICT Association of Afghanistan (NICTAA), Afghan companies managed to negotiate major investment deals with multi-national companies. With NICTAA’s positive news being so well received it managed to build the confidence in Afghanistan and Afghans.

The success of NICTAA in CeBIT may have come as a surprise to the world, but it also created an atmosphere of unity amongst Afghans. The German based Afghan community participated in vast numbers. Which indicated that had there been more success stories, the attitude of the average Afghan would be much positive and therefore tolerance will increase.
CeBIT also highlighted the strong Afghan-German relations. A deal of co-operation and partnership between NICTAA and Art of Technology (AOT), an association of 7 German IT companies, has been reached for further improvement of relations and technology progress. Dirk Ortmann, president of AOT: “We hope that this deal will encourage the German ICT companies to make business in Afghanistan”.

The progress of the ICT sector is as much dependent on investment as education. This exhibition not only proved to promote the ICT sector but also discovered an alternative means of education which is accessible to all Afghans. The initiative of Afghan German Management College was indicated to NICTAA by the ‘Afghan German Online’. This it-self was a great achievement for the promotion and progress of education in Afghanistan as it is an online college which works as an open university accessible and affordable by the majority. Eventually there will be a co-operation and partnership between NICTAA and AGMC to promote education and empowerment of the general public of Afghanistan.

Omar Mansoor Ansari, NICTAA’s President says, “Our visit also provided motivation to other Afghans in other sectors as well as the ICT sector. Finalising the deals negotiated here is the next step for us. The CeBIT participation was a milestone in the rapid development of our country, and will boost the ICT sector in Afghanistan and in consequence improve the education, private sector and stability. We thank the donor USAID/ASMED and the many private supporters for this. I also want to thank my team for their hard work and congratulate them on their accomplishments.”

CeBIT has introduced a different prospective to Afghanistan. For once the news was about success stories and not Afghanistan’s failure. Afghanistan being able to compete in the world market in ICT in a short span of time exposed what Afghanistan is capable of, if given the platform to do so. The message gave the green light for foreign and domestic investment. Moreover, a strong message was sent to national and international investors that the IT infrastructure in Afghanistan is not only a profitable market but also investors can benefit from the support of an established IT sector. NICTAA hopes that the negotiations conducted at CeBIT for local contracts will eventually attract direct investment in Afghanistan.