Malawi rakes in $1.5billion worth of investment interests at Dubai World Expo
The Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) has spoken highly of the country’s participation in the six-month long World Expo held in Dubai, which ended on Thursday, saying the country has raked in over $1.5 billion (about K1.275 trillion at the current exchange rate) worth of investment interests.
Mitc chief executive officer Paul Kwengwere said the feat has been achieved because the Expo provided the much needed platform for Malawi to interact and collaborate with potential investors.
Said Kwengwere: “The Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings were ideal especially in linking our private sector players with key decision makers we have identified in Dubai.
“In business, time is of essence and these B2B meetings provided a great opportunity for our project promoters to build as many relationships as possible in a short period of time.”
Among others, Kwengwere said, investors’ interests include projects in power generation agriculture and agro-processing (edible oil production and processing), farming, fertiliser manufacturing and ethanol production.
Malawi Industry and Trade Minister, Mark Katsonga, said that the investment interests that the country has managed to generate were not only from potential investors in Dubai but also from around the world.
“As government, we are committed to providing the necessary support to all these interested potential investors to ensure that their investment interests are materialised because this is what the country is looking forward to,” Katsonga, who was leader of delegation at the Expo, told the media.
World Expos bring together different nations across the globe in search of solutions to the pressing challenges of the day by offering a journey inside a universal theme by engaging stakeholders and immersive activities.
President of UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in his opening speech of the expo last year described the Expo as an opportunity to connect minds and opportunity to achieve milestones.
Malawi was among 192 that participated at the event.
An interest is not a sure thing.
Malawi has very restrictive investment terms, restrictive immigration terms. Malawi is a very closed country for investment.