Africa-Press – Malawi. As one way of boosting the country’s export drive, Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) has, in conjunction with the Ministry of Trade, launched Malawi International Export Awareness and Export Awards.
MITC Chief Executive Officer Paul Kwengwere disclosed this in Lilongwe on Thursday during a media briefing he held together with Trade Minister Mark Katsonga Phiri.
Kwengwere said the event is aimed at sensitising people to issues related to Malawi’s export potential to create an export culture and award exporters in pre-determined categories. He said the event has been scheduled to take place from March 29 to 30 this year at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe.
“The selection process of the winners will comprise of a detailed, well-planned and transparent criteria. The selection of winners will be done by committees and sub-committees of experts from government and private sector organisations to ensure that the winners truly deserve the Education’s awards.
“It is expected that financing for the awards will be from both the government and private sector. MITC is looking at collaborating with companies, development partners, non-governmental organisations, financial institutions and parastatals,” Kwengwere said.
In his remarks, Katsonga said export promotion is a programme under Strategic Goal 1 of the National Export Strategy II that comprises all actions and interventions to be undertaken in order to position a country’s goods and services in the right foreign markets so as to generate sustainable exports in a relatively short term.
Katsonga said the objective of Strategic Goal 1 is to increase exports of Made in Malawi products and services to the regional and global marketplace.
He observed that the promotion of exports will be one of the priorities of the Government of Malawi so that, by 2026, Malawi’s exports rate, as a percentage of gross domestic product, is increased from 14.5 percent to 20 percent.
“Therefore, the Malawi Exporters Awards plugs in well as Malawi’s products will be flagged out, recognised and awarded,” he said.
A total of seven awards are expected to be given out at the gala dinner, including the Malawi Exporter of The Year Award; Best SME Exporter Award; Best Non- Traditional Exporter Award; Best Female Exporter Award; Best Youth Exporter Award; Best Services Exporter Award and Best Financial Institution Award.
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