Afghan business thrives on Iran's border

In the shade of Khorasan Street, beneath tarps strung from second-floor windows to offer relief from the desert sun, Herati shopkeepers say they are eager for Afghan-made products. Among the multicolored boxes and bottles that look like a rainbow avalanche of soaps, shampoos, and cookie wrappers, merchants say many of the goods were made locally.

"Compared with the past, we have fewer things from Iran and we have more things from Afghanistan," says Abdul Qader, a shopkeeper.

It is a sign that Herat has used its business acumen to stand on its own, says Gov. Syed Hossein Anwari. "Different parts of Afghanistan have different talents," he says, adding that what sets Herat apart is its creativity. "If I explain the success of Herat to other governors, I tell them that it is the people," he says.

Neighbors have collected money among themselves to pay to have their streets paved, taking bids from Afghan and Iranian contractors. The city's streets are relatively free of garbage. It is the culture of independence and pride drawn from Herat's legacy as a leading city of Khorasan, the ancient Persian homeland whose remnants still resonate from the blue-tiled mosques and minarets of Herat, says the governor. To others, however, it is merely the fresh expectations that have come with a prosperity unique in Afghanistan.

"It is possible if we speak of the culture of Herat, we are speaking of a culture that demands more," says Mr. Shahir.

With such wealth at hand, Herat has become Afghanistan's finishing school for entrepreneurs. "As our elders always said, 'When a Herati is born, a businessman is born,' " says Ahmadyar, the mineral water entrepreneur.

Though he was the youngest son of his family, Ahmadyar never had any notions of becoming anything other than a businessman. "I was not making castles in the sky," he says. "I was thinking I would make the business of the family."

That meant importing cigarettes from Bulgaria. And so he did for a time. But the new regime has brought new opportunities. "Since 2003, when the government of Afghanistan was established, the Herati people have started to focus more on industry – before that, we were just involved in trade," Ahmadyar says.

He now is involved in construction – Afghanistan's largest legal industry – and when the government offered land in a new Herat business park tax-free for five years, he saw another opportunity. He didn't even know what he would do – perhaps make soda. But a lab test of the water showed it was so pure that he decided to open a mineral-water business.

So far, he has invested $600,000 in Zalal water, and it is profitable, he says. With his new facilities coming on line, he might consider starting a soda brand, after all.

•Mr. Sappenfield is the New Delhi correspondent for the Monitor and USA Today.

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