MINISTER of Industry, Trade and Tourism Joseph Mwanamvekha has called on both current and prospective Indian investors to start re-investing the profits they make within the country.
While commending some investors for infrastructure development, Mwanamvekha said it is worrisome that other Indian investors in the country are failing to develop even their own business premises.
Speaking at the MalawiIndia Business Forum at BICC in Lilongwe on Friday, he observed that some central business districts where the investors are operating have old buildings that do not reflect the profits such investors are making.
“If you look at some places such as Limbe, Area 3 or Old Town [in Lilongwe] or Zomba where some of you are operating, the infrastructure does not look good and you know we can do better on that,” Mwanamvekha said.
He also said there is need for market certainty on the prices the investors offer to farmers on some commodities such as pigeon peas and soya beans. The minister said the government has noted with concern that its introduction of some incentives are not benefitting Malawians, including workers in companies and shops that Indian investors own.
“Maybe the meeting offers an opportunity to discuss such issues. Why are you not re-investing here? What are the challenges? We need to know,” he said. Mwanamvekha told the Indian delegation to the meeting that Malawi is the best place for investment. He cited peace, easy access to land for investment, enabling laws,
simplified business registration process, availability of trade portal for all business information, country’s improvement on the Doing Business Index and an improving inflation rate as some of the incentives the investors have to consider.
Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nicholas Dausi sold the country’s information, communications and technology opportunities while Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bright Msaka shared with participants the energy woes story and potential investment opportunities in the energy sector. Indian High Commissioner in Malawi Suresh Kumar Menon said India remains upbeat that its relationship with Malawi would continue to spur the economic development of the two countries.
Menon said some Indian investors are keen to penetrate the Malawi market and the meeting offered an opportunity for Malawi to sell itself to potential investors and the investors to appreciate the business opportunities that the country is offering.
He, however, could not say how many new Indian Investors are ready to come to Malawi. “We are expecting proposals from Malawi and after receiving such proposals we will be able to say how many investors are coming and in what areas,” Menon said.
The business meeting, which primarily focused on energy, agriculture, irrigation, health and manufacturing sectors, was meant to create awareness of the possible transformational Indian investment to Malawi and educate Indian and Malawian-Indian business community on present policy and investment opportunities available to them.
Leave a Reply