Malawi to host several trade events in the year
The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has lined up several activities aimed at attracting investors and provide easy access to finance in the country.
The events include a Financiers Forum to be held on May 10, the Malawi International Trade Fair to take place on May 20, the Malawi- China Investment Forum on June 15 and the 2nd Malawi Investment Forum scheduled for October 10 this year.
Malawi is also slated to host a tourism indaba during the course of the year.
Minister of Industry and Trade, Joseph Mwanamvekha, said the private sector should come up with good proposals for the financier’s forum in Blantyre.
“We know that access to finance is one of the challenges faced by the private sector, hence we have organised a financier’s forum which will attract big international and local financial institutions,” said Mwanamvekha.
Internationally, Mwanamvekha said the AfDB, Exim Bank and OPEC have already confirmed participation at the forum.
“OPEC alone has a US$150 million facility earmarked for Malawi. So this forum will see how best the funds can be allocated based on viability of the projects,” he said.
On the Malawi – China investment forum, Mwanamvekha said a number of Chinese investors will be coming into the country to seek joint ventures or partnerships with local companies.
He described the forum as an opportunity for local companies to identify Chinese companies they can partner with in various investment projects.
“Some of the Chinese investors would like to open plants where they will be assembling their electronic products,” said Mwanamvekha.
He also said the second Malawi Investment Forum will be an improvement of the first one and expects it to bring more benefits to the country.
On the tourism indaba, principal Secretary in the tourism department Elsie Tembo said currently they are strategizing on the indaba as it involves a number of stakeholders.
“We have not yet set the date as there are a number of things that we need to work on and plan accordingly. However, we believe this will be a successful event that will market Malawi both in trade and tourism,” said Tembo.
