The Minister of Industry and Trade Simplex Chithyola Banda says the administration of President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has put much interest in developing the industrial parks, which will expand exports of Malawian products and improve the foreign exchange earnings for the country.

Banda said the development of industrial parks in Malawi will give the country a vital opportunity to have the market of its products extended to European countries and fill the gap created by the wars like that of Russia-Ukraine.

The minister was speaking from Gabon where he is leading a 14-member delegation on a learning tour of Gabon, Benin, and Togo.

The tour aims at learning more about the project as the Malawi Government intends to implement four industrial sites of Area 55 in Kanengo-Lilongwe, Dunduzu in Mzuzu, and Chigumula as well as Matindi in Blantyre.

“I am particularly happy that the government of President Lazarus Chakwera has put much interest in developing the Industrial Parks which will expand exports of Malawian products and improve the foreign exchange earnings for the country. If developed, the parks which will be under the Special Economic Zones will be a game changer on our economy. Malawi as a food basket will increase its production with the coming of these industrial parks and value addition, thereby increasing the quality of export products,” he said.

On their part, Malawi’s delegates accompanying the Minister have said the trip will help them to learn more on the impact of the parks to Malawi.

“I am happy to be part of the delegation to learn about local participation and the social impact of the industrial parks on our citizens. I would like to learn how the communities will benefit in areas of corporate social responsibilities and job creation,” said Senior Chief Kapeni, who is part of the delegation.

Legislators Abel Kayembe, Paul Nkhoma, and Francis Belekanyama who are part of the delegation representing the National Assembly of Malawi described the trip as very important on the part of Parliament to make sure they learn about the role of Parliament in making laws regulating the parks.

Meanwhile, NBS Bank has said it is interested to learn how banks support the development of the parks having set aside over K20 billion to finance the development of the park.

We believe financing the industrial parks initiative is one way of promoting SMEs and Private Sector. Our coming here will enhance our understanding of how the financing of such parks is done,” said Chinkhadwe, who is the bank’s senior official making part of the delegation.

Afrexim Bank official, Gagan Gupta, said he is happy that Malawi has taken a serious path to develop the industrial parks, adding that his bank is happy to support the initiative that will boost Malawi’s economy.

Development of industrial parks is one of the areas earmarked by the Chakwera administration towards the attainment of the 2063 vision to make Malawi an inclusively wealthy, industrialized, and self-reliant nation by the year 2063.