Mutharika tells Scots ‘If you have not visited Malawi before, then now is the time’: Hails Scotland-Malawi Partnership

President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has assured investors and community international development organisations in Scotland that they are welcome to invest and do their businesses in Malawi and that  the Malawi government shall give them all the support they need.

Mutharika was speaking at the Edinburgh City Chambers in Scotland during the Malawi- Scotland Forum.

Addressing more than 150 delegates at the forum, President Mutharika  hailed the relationship between Scotland and Malawi adding that the Scotland-Malawi Partnership as helped cement the long standing relations between the two countries.

During the forum, Malawians living in Scotland, Scottish  business persons and heads of charitable organisations had an opportunity to ask the leader of the Southern African developing country questions  in areas such as health and education and economy which   the President ably answered.

Prof. Mutharika spoke of recent progress being made in Malawi and his commitment to investing in infrastructure improvements.

“Our economy is beginning to recover. If you come back, you will find a new Malawi,” he said. “If you have not been to Malawi, it is time you paid a visit. We want you to be part of our story.”

Formed in 2004 the Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP) is the largest community-based international development non-profit network in the UK. Which helps  to coordinate, represent and support the many people-to-people and community-to-community links between Scotland and Malawi.

Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish Government’s external affairs secretary, said: “Scotland and Malawi have long-standing ties of friendship and shared history, and it is our pleasure to welcome the President and First Lady to Scotland. “The engagement with and between civil society in both our countries has been a key factor in the breadth and depth of our relationship, and I am delighted therefore that this has been included as part of the visit programme.”

The friendship between Scots and Malawians stretches back to 1859 with the warm welcome extended to Dr David Livingstone and his companions when he entered what is now Malawi.