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Malawi Wishes to Develop Better Economic, Trade Relations with China
Malawi has a strong desire to develop better economic and trade relations with China and that is why Malawi has sent a delegation here to attend the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in an observer's capacity, the head of the Malawi delegation said.
Bywell Phiri, director of Political Affairs of Malawi's Foreign Ministry, said during an interview with Xinhua that African countries like Malawi hope the forum would form a framework in which they would be able to explore ways to build better economic and trade relations with China.
Malawi does not have formal diplomatic relations with China at present.
The director is leading a six-member delegation consisting of officials from Malawi's export council, investment promotion agency, bureau of standards and technology research center. They will stay here until Friday.
Malawi, an agricultural country that grows tobacco and sugarcane, wants to sell tobacco and sugar to China and possibly import fertilizer from China, said the director.
Soon after the delegation arrived, they held talks with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, said Phiri. They also contacted other relevant Chinese authorities and "investment communities."
The Malawi delegation will continue their contacts with Chinese enterprises until it leaves, he said, to enable Chinese entrepreneurs to have a better knowledge of the country and encourage them to invest in or trade with Malawi.
Among the areas Malawi hopes Chinese investments would go, he said, are processing and medicine. Malawi also wants to learn from Chinese experience in agriculture and irrigation, he said.
"Depending on the outcome of the contact, which is just a beginning," he said, "there may be follow-up actions, because we want to build up economic relations with China."
The director described the current forum as "very useful." The Chinese Government's commitment to cancel or reduce 10 billion yuan (about 1.2 billion U.S dollars) of debts for African countries, he said, is "very, very encouraging" because debts have so badly affected the development of some African countries.
"China's debt relief commitment will be conducive to the development of African countries," he said.
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