A delegation from Malawi undertook a study tour to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok from 14 to 26 October 2006. The 13-member delegation comprising ministerial, governmental and private sector members was led by the Malawi Minister of Industry, Trade and Private Sector Development.

The focus of the study tour was on private sector development with the following objectives:
• To expose the delegation to the best practices in appropriate and practical private sector reforms and policies of Malaysia and Thailand
• To meet and interact with counterpart institutions involved in SME development and to learn about public-private partnerships, financing channels for SMEs and investment climate reforms
• To gain a better insight of successful programmes and initiatives by visiting the respective agencies and institutions
The delegation also took the opportunity to present the business opportunities available in Malawi to the business communities in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok – in sectors such as tourism, mining, agri-business, infrastructure development, etc.

Malawi is located in southeastern Africa. It has Zambia to the north-west, Tanzania to the north, and Mozambique surrounding it on the east, south, and west. It has the Great Rift Valley running through the country from north to south. In this deep trough lies Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa), the third-largest lake in Africa, which makes up about 20% of Malawi’s total area. The Shire River flows from the south end of the lake and joins the Zambezi River 400km farther south in Mozambique.

Malawi is strategically located for access to regional markets/free trade area and duty free areas such as:
• COMESA – comprising 19 countries with over 380 million population
• SADC – comprising 13 countries with over 200 million population
Bilateral trade agreements have also been signed between Malawi and Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. In addition, Malawi has strategic access to the USA market through AGOA and the European market through the COTONOU and EU-ACP agreements. Although landlocked, Malawi is easily accessible through road networks to regional markets as well as flight connections from regional hubs in Nairobi and South Africa.