India hails trade ties with Malawi

Indian High Commissioner to Malawi Shri Vanlalhuma has spoken highly of the growing bilateral relationship between the two countries over the years, saying it has in turn accorded its economies vast trade opportunities.

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of an opening ceremony of a hall that Indian nationals donated to communities in Blantyre, Vanlalhuma, however, said there are still vast trade opportunities between the two countries that remain untapped.

According to Vanlalhuma, market for local agricultural products remains vast in Indian and that the country’s supply has remained minimal to meet the demand.

“Our facility is said to have 94 commodities that can be traded to India and these are duty free. Malawi needs to trade and take advantage of the opportunity,” he said.

Vanlalhuma said Malawi’s agricultural commodities such as pigeon pees and chilli remain on high demand on the Indian market.

He said there is hope for a further growth of the business opportunities between the two countries.

“It’s not possible to quantify the market demand in dollar terms, it is too vast. With its large population, the Indian market has a vast opportunity for Malawi products. The potential is enormous and it has to be tapped,” he said.

Commenting on the bilateral relations between New Dheli and Lilongwe, Vanlalhuma said there also has been further growth in the years of its existence.

He said in the last seven years, for instance, the Indian Government has provided lines of credit worth at least US $180 million to Malawi and that the country is now considering further lines of credit at the request of Malawi.

“The relationship between Malawi and India is growing year by year. We, however, feel it should grow much faster than this because there is vast potential,” Vanlalhuma said.

He said there is still hope of continued growth of the ties between the two countries and that the economies would continue improving further.