MITC to boost export sector
MITC acting chief executive officer Clement Kumbemba said this at a news conference on Wednesday in Lilongwe ahead of the company’s training sessions to be held in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu next month.
Kumbemba’s call comes at a time when Malawi continues to face a wide- spread negative trade balance— a gap between the total value of imports and exports—which has led to severe foreign exchange shortages that have adversely affected key sectors such as transport, manufacture, agriculture, construction and mining, among others.
The country recorded a trade balance of K106.2 billion (about $635m) in 2010 from K54.3 billion (about $325m) in 2009, one of the worst trade gaps in the country’s history.
The call also comes at a time when government, through the Ministry of Industry and Trade is developing a national export strategy to diversify away from the country’s traditional export commodities.
“In view of this, MITC has organised exporters’ training with an objective of enhancing exporters’ skills and knowledge on the exports market so as to take advantage of the opportunities existing in the export sector,” said Kumbemba.
He said the institution want to turn Malawi into a net export as envisioned by the late president Bingu wa Mutharika.
MITC is an entity that has emerged out of a merger between the Malawi Investment and Promotion Agency (Mipa) and the Malawi Export Promotional Council (Mepc).
