Mutharika assures investors of support as Toyota Malawi clocks 50yrs
Malawi President Peter Mutharika has said his government is committed to supporting all foreign investors in the country as their investments go a long way in contributing to the economic development in form of taxes, job creation and foreign exchange generation.
Mutharika was speaking on Friday when he graced celebrations of Toyota Malawi Limited on marking 50 years of existence and doing business in Malawi .
The President said he was pleased to be informed that Toyota Malawi has already embarked on projects that will transform the company from “a net importer to an exporter of local agricultural products”.
“These efforts will definitely contribute towards the generation of the much needed foreign exchange for Malawi and offset the import forex requirement of Toyota Malawi,” said Mutharika.
He went on to call upon the shareholders of Toyota Malawi to intensify their efforts of diversifying the company to a more export orientation in order to contribute to government efforts in transforming Malawi from a net importing nation to a net producing and exporting nation.
“Toyota Malawi contributions to the socio-economic development of the country are much appreciated. Toyota Malawi has contributed to the economic development of the country in many ways,” he said.
The Malawi leader said apart from the various vehicle models and value adding services provided by Toyota Malawi, the company has demonstrated to be a good corporate citizen by contributing to the social challenges Malawi faces in form of corporate social responsibility.
Mutharika further noted that the transport sector is very important for the development of any economy and Malawi is no exception.
“My Government holds in esteem the contribution of the transport sector to the economy. It is against this background that transport sector is one of the four priority sectors together with agriculture, energy and manufacturing that my Government believes can quickly spur rapid economic growth.
“As a demonstration of commitment to the transport sector, my Government has removed import duty, import excise and VAT on all minibuses that are zero to five years,” he explained.
Toyota Malawi golden jubilee was celebrated under the theme ‘Celebrating 50 years of partnership in Malawi’ in Lilongwe.
The company’s Managing Director Rosemary Mkandawire thanked Malawians for supporting the Toyota brand over the past 50 years.
She described the years as a mixed bag of good and challenging times but was quick to note that the company has seen more good times than bad ones.
“Toyota has been part of weddings, graduations, anniversary parties and other milestones for generations, from our grandfathers to the current generation and for some of our children and grand children,” said Mkandawire.
During the celebrations, Toyota Malawi Limited made a donation of the Toyota Land Cruiser ambulance to the Ministry of Health towards Safe Motherhood Initiative.
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Toyota Malawi should be ashamed of itself, 50 years in Malawi BUT no meaningful contribution to the country? NO LOCAL PERSON can afford a brand new Toyota in Malawi except companies? Not even A CEO???? Here in Middle East we get Brand new Toyotas and pay by instalnment 5-10 years and makes life easier thats how car manufacturing company can contribute to transportation to locals BUT their cars so so expensive….really crazy company. Malawi is pooor and yet the hamer us hard again with exobitant prices..is this helping or reaping Malawi? Poor professor who has no clue of what development… Read more »
The most hopeless administration Malawi has ever had . Can someone please tell this “President” that Malawians are hurting economically, and that the most painful part is that there is no sign of light at the end of the tunnel? It is becoming pretty obvious that this “President” and his administration have no clue whatsoever regarding the possible solutions to the myriad of problems currently facing the country . It is indeed going to be a very painful 5 years for the majority of Malawians .
George you are dead end. Economic development does not mean assisting a poor man in the village.
That’s true
Can Toyota Malawi start doing what Toyota does in other countries like allowing people to buy cars with a down payment and then pay in installments for 5 years just like we do used to do with furniture? In other countries it very easy to buy these cars, why not in Malawi?
I remember some furniture outlets, Supreme and Carnivore furniture had hire purchase arrangements here sometime back. They closed shop after only a few years. It appears that this sales model did not work. Can it work in car sales, especially for personal vehicles? I doubt. Remember that in Malawi, we do not yet have national identification. We also do not have proper residential address system. Knowing how crooked some of us can be at times, it would be very very risk for any car dealer to go the hire purchase route. Our default rates are simply very high. Recently one… Read more »
Very true except that their cars are strong enough for Malawi roads. Talking of China and India, I have reservation. Better the devil you know than the one you do not know. Amwenye palibe ka bridge kapena kachimbudzi kapasukulu kamene athandizapo a Malawi, koma mwano ndi ukapolo basi.
Can someone tell me which poor man in Malawi is benefiting from Toyota Malawi. what has Toyota Malawi done to develop Malawi in the last 50 years:? here are my facts as to why Toyota Malawi has actually led to the impoverishment of Malawi: 1. Their cars have always been terribly expensive and their clients have mostly been government and NGOs Government purchases these cars with donor funded money and most of Toyota cars used by governemt have no economic value added to Malawi. most them are luxurious cars driven at a huge fuel cost for no apparent reason than… Read more »
Exactly..no poor and majority of Malawi really benefit from Toyota Malawi? The very fact that Malawians scramble for Toyotas from Japam is a clear indication thatthe same Toyota does not have a product that suits the pocket’ of the average Malawian! Even the spare parts are too expensive for nothing! Come on Toyota malawi? One even can get a better Toyota deal in South Africa? If anything, Toyota would be a good agent to sell both new and ‘CERTIFIED’ toyota cars…..a good example would be to sell the duty free minibuses ( emphasize real minibuses) at a lower cost for… Read more »
Typical Malawian mentality someone should come and help us we can’t do things on our own. Toyota indeed makes cars tailored to local needs but do you think malawi is a big enough market for Toyota to do that. They do it in big markets such as South africa. Get real fellow Malawians
Very interesting arguments George, I like your passion for poverty reduction and development for this country. I don’t work for Toyota, neither am I attempting to defend them, but getting us to see the flip side of things. First, I believe Toyota benefits Malawians, both rich and poor. I do not know how many people are or have been employed by the company over the years. These and their relatives are the direct beneficiaries as the employment has obviously improved their livelihoods. These are not necessarily rich Malawians. Others have benefitted by doing business with the company, by supplying goods… Read more »
Hagar the Horrible, well spoken man. It doesn’t mean that all Malawians shoud drive a new brand car. Even in countries where they make the cars the citizens go for the second hand too. What Malawian should know is that Toyota Malawi employ local people to work. The cars that are bought by NGO’S benefit local people in the villages where they go and support them, and after the project is over cars are donated to other organisatiion to continue with the work. Do people think of the life being saved in rural areas by these organisations who use toyota… Read more »