Malawi export strategy taken onboard
Malawi President Peter Mutharika has said his government will continue to implement the National Exports Strategy (NES) which was launched by his predecessor Joyce Banda in December 2012.
“We will also continue to implement the National Export Strategy which was launched in December, 2012, and will be implemented up to 2018,” Mutharika said in his maiden State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Tuesday.
The strategy, among others, seeks to double Malawi’s exports value in the next five years.
Malawi’s exports are valued at around $1 billion per year against the import value of about $2.3 billion and thus the strategy could help the country, dogged by recurring trade deficits, generate enough foreign currency to finance for its critical imports.
Trade deficit, as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is also high, rising from seven percent in 2001 to 21 percent in 2010.
Mutharika said the export provides a road map for developing Malawi’s productive base to allow for both export competitiveness and economic empowerment.
“Government is determined to double exports in the next five year,”added Mutharika.
The President said government will also facilitate the promotion of quality in local products and promote the Best-Buy-Malawian campaign.
Mutharika said government will empower Malawians to venture into tangible businesses through deliberate economic empowerment strategies.
“We will also support Malawians to enter into joint ventures with foreign investors; establish a ‘one-stop’ investment centre to promote and encourage increased investment in the productive sectors especially in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism; and strengthen and develop viable financial institutions that will undertake trade financing so that every produce made in Malawi finds a market either locally or abroad,” he added.
Ministry of Industry and Trade spokesperson Wiskes Nkombezi praised the new government for continuing with the strategy which he said is ‘transcending.’
