Government has been urged to act with speed on challenges facing the manufacturing sector in Malawi. The call was made in Blantyre during an industrial workshop on the manufacturing sector organized by the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre.

General Manager for Mapeto David whitehead and Sons limited Mr. Martin Mpata expressed concern that the manufacturing sector in the country is facing a lot of challenges which have resulted in huge downsizing.

‘We need government to address the issues affecting the sector with speed. The issue of product smuggling for example is slowly killing the sector. We are ready to engage with government on what needs to be done to address these challenges. We believe together we can revive the sector and make it profitable as it used to be.’ Explained Mpata.

Reacting to the concerns MITC Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Clement Kumbemba, acknowledged that businesses in the country are going through various challenges including; high transportation costs, scarcity of land for investment, inadequate power supply among others. He however, assured the gathering that government is working on improving the business environment through policy, administrative, institutional and legal reforms.

‘Government's committed objective is to make Malawi's manufacturing sector a robust one which should not only be competitive on the export market, but also on the substitution of imports which is presently a huge foreign exchange drain that Government is grappling with. This is why we engage players in this sector to understand their concerns and see how best we can resolve them.’ Explained Kumbemba.

The industrial workshop attracted participation of about 25 companies in the manufacturing sector. Presentations from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, National Planning Commission, Malawi Revenue Authority and the Public Sector reforms were made regarding the challenges and opportunities available for the manufacturing sector.