TICHAONA KATSVAMUTIMA
CEO Africa Roundtable is co-ordinating the participation of Zimbabwe companies at the Malawi Business Roundtable scheduled for next week.
The meeting kicks off on May 25 and runs until May 29,2022 in Lilongwe.
This was confirmed by CEO Africa Roundtable chief executive officer, Kipson Gundani, who told Business Times that the roundtable will serve as a platform for Zimbabwean and Malawian business leaders and government officials to engage on key sectors including agribusiness, energy, health, infrastructure, ICT and finance, among many others.
“(We expect to) network with key private sector and government decision makers, explore new business opportunities and meet potential business partners and advocate to shape effective Zimbabwe – Malawi trade and investment ties,” Gundani said.
He said the roundtable is expected to shape incentives for expanding business operations between the two countries.
The meeting,Gundani said, will be a deal breaking platform between investors and project owners from various sectors.
“(We will have) meetings with government officials including cabinet ministers to discuss investment opportunities, processes, regulations, procedures, and incentives for investing in Malawi.
“(Will also have) dedicated business to business meetings with Malawian counterparts to further explore specific opportunities. This is matchmaking of Zimbabwean and Malawian businesses. We hope to facilitate matchmaking together with the business chambers in Malawi, for instance The Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry,”Gundani said.
Zimbabwe-Malawi trade relations date back from 1985, the year in which the two countries signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement allowing duty-free imports on goods that meet 25% minimum domestic content provisions.
Data from the Trade Map indicate that total trade between Zimbabwe and Malawi decreased from US$126m in 2015 to US$51m in 2019 and the Balance of Trade has been in favour of Malawi.
Available data also indicate that Malawi is the net importer of goods which gives Zimbabwean entrepreneurs a chance to tap into the Malawi market while the latter also benefit.
Against this background, it is mutually beneficial for Zimbabwe and Malawi’s public and private sector to develop the fortitude to engage and enlarge their business territories underpinned by existing trading agreements and other corporation agreements. Both countries are members of COMESA and SADC thus providing a multilateral trade platform to do business.
Zimbabwe has already set in motion its economic blueprint , the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which sets rolling the economic growth trajectory in the 2021-2025 period.
The goals of the NDS1 include sustaining inclusive and equitable real gross domestic product growth, promoting new enterprise development, modernizing the economy through the use of ICT and digital technology, promoting good governance and corporate social investment.
In achieving all this, international engagement is critical in achieving the country’s economic goals.
On the other hand, Malawi aims to transform into a wealthy and self-reliant industrialized upper-middle-income country by the year 2063.
In its economic blueprint, projections indicate that if the economy grows at an annual average rate of 6%, Malawi will attain the low middle-in- come status by 2030.
Malawi 2063 First Ten year Implementation Plan (MIP-1) operationalizes the vision 2063 from 2021-2030 which has priority game changers and flagship investment opportunities across the three pillars of Agricultural Productivity and Commercialization, Industrialization (from agriculture and mining) and Urbanization.
