 TRADE AGREEMENTS AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION |
In spite of increasing globalisation and trade liberalisation, Malawi will continue to enter into bilateral and regional Trade Agreements. However, caution will be taken to ensure that such Agreements do not put Malawi products at a disadvantage. In this regard, government will continue to review existing Trade Agreements with the aim of making them more beneficial to Malawi. To this extent, involvement of the private sector in trade negotiations will be enhanced through consultations in such for as the National Working Group on Trade Negotiations and the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Government realises that financial and technical assistance in negotiating such Agreements is necessary to ensure that Malawi fully participated in all the negotiations and that she negotiates from a point of strength. In this connection, a request for assistance in Trade Negotiations has been made to the British Government through the Department for International Development (DFID). USAID and GTZ are currently assisting Malawi in the negotiations of the SADC Trade Protocol. With regard to implementation of such Agreements, Malawi requires financial and technical assistance to ensure that the country exports competitive goods and services.
| Market Access |
Government is determined to negotiate for removal of tariffs and Non-tariffs barriers to trade in order to get market access for Malawi’s products. Efforts will also be directed at diversifying export products and markets.
| | Export push |
The government believes that a strong export push is necessary for Malawi to grow at levels necessary for the eradication of poverty. In this regard, government will continue to encourage the manufacture and export of more value added products as a means of achieving higher levels of industrialisation.
Export finance is crucial in Malawi’s endeavour to promote exports. In this regard, it is government’s wish to establish mechanisms for assisting exporters with financial packages that would enhance their ability to compete such as export credits or other means of guaranteeing access to finances.
| Industrial linkages |
To achieve the level of exports mentioned above will require strong linkages between sectors in the economy, notably between agriculture and industry.
In this regard, government will endeavour to support efforts aimed at enhancing the agriculture sector to produce raw materials necessary to propel Malawi’s exports. Such efforts will include support to produce adequate quantities of cotton to support the textile and clothing sector which remains one of the best options for Malawi to increase its exports of non-traditional products. It is expected that with such interventions, government could realise its goal of changing the composition of its exports from largely primary commodities to manufactured products.
| Financial assistance |
Lack of access to financial resources is still one the most critical impediments to private sector development in Malawi. In this regard, government will continue to examine the best way of making such finances available and accessible especially to Malawian owned enterprises. This is in recognition of the fact that financial development remains one of the major factors leading to economic growth. Further deepening of the financial sector, therefore, still remains government’s policy with respect to private sector development. To this extent, government lauds the introduction of the EU Business Assistance Scheme (EBAS) and will take all the necessary steps to ensure that Malawian private sector operators benefit from the scheme.
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