Malawi banks on South Korea for development

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo says Malawi has confidence that partnering South Korea will help the country achieve aspirations outlined in Malawi 2063 (MW2063) to become an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation.

She said this at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Monday after bilateral talks between President Lazarus Chakwera and South Korea Prime Minister Han Duck-soo aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries.

Tembo said Malawi is optimistic that with the MW2063, the country’s long-term development strategy, and with support from South Korea, the country will achieve what Malawians have set out to achieve.

She said: “In 1964, Malawi and South Korea were at the same level, but today, South Korea is a developed country and we are still a developing country.

“This collaboration will help us to leapfrog to a better Malawi, a developed Malawi, learning lessons from South Korea, in terms of how they have managed to achieve such development and what their secrets are.”

After the bilateral talks, the two leaders and their Foreign Affairs ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on health, education, agriculture, technology transfers and technology training, among others.

Duck-soo, who was in the country for a day-long visit as part of his African tour which extends to Cameroon and Togo, hinted at the re-establishment of a residential mission in the country, which Tembo said will be taken seriously.

Also in attendance during the meeting were Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda and principal secretaries from the ministries.