President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika on Monday failed to open the 2016 Malawi Investment Forum (MIF) at Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC).
Late last week Minister of Information and Communications Technology Malisoni Ndau told the press that President Mutharika will be in the country by weekend and on Monday will preside over the Investment Forum.
Failure by Mutharika to arrive in the country from United States of America where he went last month to attend the United Nation General Assembly saw the Country’s Vice President Saulos Chilima presiding over the business Forum.
Speaking at the Forum, Chilima said government recognized the importance of investment and trade in creating jobs, expanding domestic tax base, attaining sustainable economic growth and improving living standards of people.
“My government is aggressively reversing all negative economic trends. We are no longer approaching the development agenda in the business as usual fashion.
“New principles and structures are being put in place to do away with the older ways that have hitherto failed to deliver,” he said, reading from a prepared speech.
He said government had implemented various reforms aimed at re-structuring processes and procedures as a way of further enabling the environment on investment.
Chilima said investors would find a public service that is efficient, effective and professional that served the interests of business community very well.
“Already, the one stop shop at the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) has enabled the country to reduce the cost and number of days it takes to register a business in Malawi as we continue on this path to guarantee ease of doing business in the country,” he said.
He said there were also legal and policy changes that had been made to create an attractive investment destination.
“These include land-related laws some of which will facilitate acquisition of land for investors both in agriculture and other sectors,” Chilima said.
Chilima, therefore, said government was implementing a Standard, Quality, Accreditation and Metrology (SQAM) project to reduce cost of certification.
He said this was a state-of-the-art laboratory that would validate quality of exports much to the delight of the manufacturing and agro-processing sectors.
Currently, more than 12 companies that attended the 2015 MIF have already registered with the appropriate authorities and some of them are working on the ground and operating.
MITC Chief Executive Officer, Clement Kumbemba, said private sector investment could do well when public institutions were also very responsible.
He said the MITC was one of the beneficiary institutions under the public service reform programme. The One-Stop-Shop was the first in the reforms agenda.
During the forum, seven selected ministries and departments have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
They include Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Food Security, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and Ministry of Natural Resources and Mining.
