LILONGWE, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday announced a comprehensive plan that will cover the period between 2021 and 2023 to help the country's economy recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 Socio-Economic Recovery Plan (SERP) will "stimulate strategic parts of the economy with various interventions" and help the country stay the course with the Malawi 2063 First 10-year Implementation Plan, the Malawian leader said in a national address.
Chakwera pointed out the country's economy "is bleeding from four wounds at once," namely structural limitations, gross imbalance between imports and exports, COVID-19 pandemic in its fourth wave, and government waste of resources.
To address the gross imbalance between imports and exports, the president urged Malawians to seize the trade opportunities that his government has opened up with various countries including South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, South Sudan and Botswana.
"These are countries where we are actively securing new markets for your maize, sugar, soya, groundnuts, beans, and rice, and as I speak, the trade inquiries for these products from these countries exceed 300 million dollars," Chakwera said.
He appealed to state and non-state actors, corporates, development partners, foreign investors and all Malawians to support the implementation of the SERP by playing their respective roles.
