The Malawian business community has been called upon to explore the numerous business opportunities existing is South Sudan. The call was made on Monday during an interface meeting between Malawian private sector players and a delegation from South Sudan that visited Malawi from 26th to 31st January 2022.

Speaking at the interface meeting in Lilongwe, Acting Undersecretary for South Sudanese Ministry of Trade, Mary Akech Milla said as a young country South Sudan has a lot of opportunities that need to be exploited. She further said that the South Sudanese government is already putting in place deliberate policies and strategies that aim to facilitate smooth flow of trade and investment in the country.

"You know as a country that is only 10 years old we still have a lot to offer to the business community in terms of trade and investment opportunities. For example, most of the products that we are using, we are importing from countries such as Brazil. So we want Malawi to be one of our top sourcing countries. We have a lot of business opportunities that Malawians can take advantage of and our government is committed to ensure that the business partnership that we have with Malawi is benefitting the people from the two countries."

CEO for South Sudanese Bureau of Standards, Mary Nyitur Gordon Muortat also emphasised the need for Malawian businesses wishing to export to South Sudan to adhere to quality standards.

"We are happy to work with Malawian companies wishing to export to South Sudan. But one thing that we are emphasising is the issue of standards. And on that we have already signed an MOU with the Malawi Bureau of Standards which will help the two countries to harmonise the standards that are required by both countries. So our motto has always been standards come first before trade."

In his remarks MITC Board Chairperson Karl Chokhotho said MITC is ready to work with companies and individuals wishing to export to South Sudan.

"Be assured that MITC is ready and willing to support facilitation of trade between the two countries."

Malawi and South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for trade and economic cooperation. Under this MOU Malawi received an interest to export over S$129,000,000 of maize flour, beans, rice, cooking oil, sugar, soy beans, tea, poultry products, groundnuts, cow peas and Irish potatoes. So far Malawi has exported 1,200 metric tons of maize flour and 400 metric tons of rice.