Luanda - The Republic of Angola congratulated Malawi, on Wednesday (Oct 9), on its success during the IV Review of that country's Trade Policy, which took place at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Angola's position was made official by the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva (Switzerland), Margarida Izata, reiterating her unwavering support for Malawi.
She also mentioned that Angola continues to trust in the resilience of this country, which is currently under the first Ten-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1) from 2021 to 2030, based on two concrete objectives, namely raising the country's income status to the level medium-low by 2030, and meet most of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“To achieve these two targets, MIP-1 is based on the three pillars of Malaw 2063, namely, Economic Development, Social Development and Political Integration”, she said.
However, throughout his intervention, she felt sorry for the fact that Angola and Malawi, despite being active members of the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFA), have a very modest level of commercial exchange.
“According to the latest updates from UN-COMTRADE for 2023, since 2020, exports from Angola to Malawi have decreased significantly, while in the opposite direction they were valued, in 2023, at just SU$ 3.95 million, being mainly linked to diverse machinery, milling products, vegetables and fruits, although showing a clear growing trend”, she stated.
She continued to emphasize that Angola would like to increase, diversify and balance its commercial ties with Malawi, opening new cooperation areas, mutual investment and mobilizing new sectors, including tourism, agriculture, agro-industries and services.
Throughout its intervention, she also highlighted the fact that this country has seen a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis on its economy, with data showing that, during the period under analysis, the real GDP rate fell from an average annual growth from 4% in the pre-COVID-19 period (2016-19) to an annual average of 2% in the 2020-22 period.”
The WTO's Trade Policy Review (TPR) to Angola took place last March, with the country being represented by a delegation led by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rui Miguêns de Oliveira.
It should be noted that Angola and Malawi signed, on August 18, 2023, a General Cooperation Agreement, in a ceremony witnessed by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, and his Malawian counterpart, Lazarus Chakwera.
The WTO Member States TPR process is a mechanism that allows all members of this Organization not only to present the state of national trade, but above all to hear from partners contributions on which aspects to correct and improve in the future.
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