By Steven Godfrey Mkweteza

Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), says certification of local companies will help promote the industry to be competitive on the global market.

In an interview during March 2024 awards of permits and designation and management systems certificate in Blantyre on Monday, board chairman for the bureau, Davilin Chokazinga said the certified companies met the required standards.

He said: “As a regulator, we certify companies which have met the standards. We are interested to know if the companies are constantly following the rules and regulations to produce and maintain high quality products and services that will be competitive on the international market.”

Chokazinga among other things, said the country would collect more revenues through taxes and that the forex earnings would improve it the companies are competitive on the international markets.

He said production of quality standards products would also go towards promoting export trade of the country.

“Quality and standards adherence should be a priority in order to tap from the international market opportunities. This is of paramount importance,” he said.

On the other hand, the board chairman advised manufacturers to sustain the certification, saying once it revoked, it becomes so expensive to get another one.

Commenting on the certification, director for quality assurance for the bureau, Gloria Mereka, said certification scheme has so far received overwhelming response with a total of 411 companies this year alone from 135 companies last year.

“Out of 411 certified this year, 235 are new entrants and the bigger number is from the SME sector. This shows that the companies are working hard to improve the quality and standards, “she said.

Mereka added that a total of 144 companies from the southern region, 116 from the central region and 13 from the northern region.

Mereka attributed the growing number of participants to intensive awareness from the stakeholders among others.

The certified companies included shop-rite, Rab processors, OG group of companies, Kips, Lafarge cement company, Chibuku products and Valmore Paints, among other companies.