Malawi gets $250m export enquiries at Moz Fair
Malawi has received about $250 million (K257.29 billion) of export enquiries for various commodities through its participation at the recent Maputo International Trade Fair (Facim) in Mozambique, officials have announced.
Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) in a statement made available to Business News said the enquiries are for commodities like soya, beans, CG7-groundnuts seeds, rice, honey, maize, nutritional porridge flour and eggs.
According to Mitc public relations manager Deliby Chimbalu, the fair which took place from August 29 to September 4 provided an opportunity for local small scale businesses (SMEs) and exporters to explore the Mozambican market and find potential markets for their products.
“As we continue to identify more export markets for Malawian products, the Mozambique market has become one of the potential export leads that we have generated at the just-ended Maputo International Trade Fair.
“At Mitc we are more than ready to support and facilitate those that are interested in export marketing by helping them understand the requirements for specific markets as well as make them aware of the formalities, procedures, and the related information regarding those markets,” she said.
Commenting on the development Chamber for Small and Medium Businesses Association executive secretary James Chiutsi while welcoming the development said coordination would be very key to benefiting from the available opportunity.
“We realise that the orders generated from such fairs are huge, requiring total coordination on the ground which will require us to be organised to fulfill the demand.
“We also implore the Mitc to closely work with SME associations to ensure production is met and that SMEs benefit from the same,” he said.
But Chimbalu was quick to mention that the investment and trade facilitation body is ready to work with SMEs to tap into the market.
“We implore those that are interested in the export leads and we are ready to provide them with the information on how best they can take advantage of these opportunities,” she said.
The 57th edition of Facim 2022 attracted more than 2 500 foreign exhibitors from 21 countries. Malawi got position three on the Best International Exhibitor Category at the fair. n
