By Staff Reporter

Malawi is soon expected to have sufficient flow of forex and fuel following successful discussions which Malawi President held on Wednesday with Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs of Qatar.

Malawi for long time has a history of forex and fuel shortages because of balance of payment the country is experiencing. For example Malawi has USD1Billion trade balance.

Chakwera held bilateral talks with Dr. Khalid , on the sidelines of the LDC5 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) taking place in Doha, Qatar.

At the top of the agenda was President candid call for a line of credit to help mitigate what he called, two crippling challenges – an “acute shortage of Forex and fuel”.

President Chakwera emphasized the necessity of a line of credit to stabilize the petroleum supply chain in Malawi, adding that due to a shortage of foreign exchange, Malawi is unable to ensure stable fuel availability in the country which is invariably crippling businesses and ultimately wreaking economic havoc.

In their first ever encounter, the two leaders also discussed enhancing bilateral ties particularly in the agriculture sector where His excellency expressed the desire to export beef, vegetables, goat meat, and other products to international markets including to Qatar in 5 years’ time. To kick-start this agricultural revolution, we need to modernise our agriculture sector.

His Excellency further highlighted Malawi’s mega farms plan, as a major area for cooperation and collaboration between Malawi and Qatar in terms of Foreign Direct Investment, adding that the country is endowed with fertile land that if utilized could yield massive dividends commercially. In addition the President expressed the need to capacitate farmers and equip them with the resources and skills to generate revenue on a large scale.

Critically His Excellency made a plea to the Qatar government to support Malawi in its mechanization drive by assisting with tractors and other tractors and other processing equipment to boost production.

His Excellency asserted that in this regard the Malawi Government is taking various steps to facilitate foreign investment, such as intensifying irrigation systems citing the launch of projects such as the Shire Valley Transformation Project, which is envisaged will increase agricultural productivity and commercialization in the Lower Shire, while improving sustainable management and utilization of natural resources.

In terms of education President Chakwera implored on the Qatar Government to consider investing in a university in Malawi that would specialize in areas like architecture and agriculture in a bid to consolidate all the aforementioned initiatives and aspirations for Malawi – a country intent on becoming the next developed.

The President further thanked the Qatari Government for demonstrating commitment and supporting the LDCs grouping by pledging USD60 million towards the implementation of the Doha plan of action.