President Lazarus Chakwera has courted investors to consider investing in the country’s mining and tourism sectors because the two have great potential to transform the country in the coming decades.
Speaking when he opened the sixth Malawi International Tourism Expo at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe yesterday, the President expressed satisfaction with the participation and said by promoting and marketing tourism, the country is also selling every resource that could be turned into wealth.
In a direct address to foreign delegates, Chakwera said: “I say welcome to Malawi, and feel at home. This is the country where there are numerous investment opportunities, including critical minerals from gold, rare earths,
rutile and many more that are going to transform the economy in the coming decades.
“As of now, we have removed visa restrictions for close to 100 countries which enables tourists to easily visit the country. This is your opportunity to experience the beauty of the country as well as to appreciate the friendliness of Malawians.”
In her remarks, Minister of Tourism Vera Kamtukule said the expo, being held under the theme ‘Solidifying our gains, everything everyone’, is designed to market everything that Malawi has.
She said the expo has helped to increase the number of tourists annually to 1.1 million, from the pre-pandemic figure of 900 000.
Over 40 guests from across the world are being hosted at this year’s expo, according to the Ministry of Tourism, an initiative that was deliberately made to market the country.
Malawi Investment and Trade Centre said it expects that this year’s expo, which will end tomorrow, will help attract foreign investors.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the tourism industry have urged the Ministry of Tourism to exploit technology and target global tourism power houses to amplify the expo to attain its marketing objective going forward.
Tourism plays a critical role in the growth of the economy as the sector accounts for 9.1 percent of the global GDP, according to the Malawi Government Annual Economic Report 2025.
In 2024, tourism contributed about K865 billion to the country’s GDP, a rise from the previous year’s K743 billion, according to the report.
