President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera today has officially opened the 34th Malawi International Trade Fair at Chichiri Trade Fair Grounds in the city of Blantyre.

During the ceremony Chakwera called for concerted efforts between government and the private sector to boost production and export in the country,

The president stressed on the significance of addressing the trade imbalance resulting from over-dependency on exports.

He also restated government’s commitment to enhancing productivity in agriculture through the mega-farm initiatives irrigation to address challenges emerging from shocks such as climate change-induced disasters.

He urged the private sector to utilise the initiatives and regulations such as the Special Economic Zones Act which compliment the one Stop Border Post initiative, as well as numerous trade opportunities secured by government.

And on his part Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwe said his Ministry will support investors who are geared to promoting local industrialisation movements.

He emphasized that the government is putting on agriculture mehanisation and commercialisation is the right approach as the country has a lot of potential in that sector .

The Minister concluded that they have stopped importing some of things they used to like , tomatoes , eggs, and chicken to encourage local production.

The 34th Malawi International Trade Fair will run from today 23 May to 29 May