By Glory Msowoya
Blantyre, Mana: Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has said all is set to hold this year’s Malawi International Trade Fair event after a two year break due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The fair provides an opportunity for companies and businesses to showcase their products and services to a wider international community.
Interview to Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Thursday, MCCCI Director for Business Environment and Policy Advocacy, Madalitso Kazembe said the current situation has proved to be safe for MCCCI to hold the event which is expected to start from July 27 to August 7, 2022.
“After assessing COVID-19 situation, we agreed that it is safe for the country to hold the event this year, we have already made a lot of headways in terms of preparations,” she said.
Kazembe said more than 250 exhibitors both local and international are expected to participate during the fair.
“The trade fair exhibitions provide an opportunity for organizations to market their products and services in different sectors across the economy and it provides a platform for the business community to interact with each other.
“Trade fair provides business linkage which is one of the tools of a successful business. So, the trade fair is an event that gives an opportunity to businesses to find potential trade partners,” she said.
The Director urged the business community willing to showcase their goods during the event to put in place measures of attracting customers to the event which, among others, include promotion.
President for Indigenous Business Association of Malawi, Mike Mlombwa hailed the move, saying it would help business captains to find markets in an effort of recovering from COVID-19.
He added that there have been huge negative impacts to the business industry for not having the event for the past two years.
“This is a very good development; we had a crucial time because of COVID-19, but this time around we can now see COVID-19 is phasing out, even though there are some cases here and there.
“We actually saw businesses falling down among other reasons was lack of platforms to showcase their products, it feels good that this year the country will have the event, it is my plea that MCCCI should invite a lot of international exhibitors so that business captains in the country can have new business partners,” Mlombwa said.
This year, the International Trade Fair will be held under the theme: ‘Achieving business resilience through market diversity.’
