Lilongwe, May 22: The new Malawi envoy to the United States of America, Ambassador Necton Mhura on May 18 presented hisletters of Credence to President Obama in Washington DC, United States of America (USA).
A statement from the Ambassador’s offices says Mhura stated that his duty would be to strengthen further bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of the respective countries and their people.
The envoy expressed Malawi’s appreciation of the contribution of American citizens and charitable organisations whose work continues to make a huge difference in the lives of people in the rural communities and underscores the spirit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“Ambassador Mhura stressed that it is the wish of the Malawi leaders that Malawi and the US should work towards increased market share of Malawian products such as tobacco, sugar macadamia, ground nuts, tea and other agricultural products in the US market as well as promoting investment by US businesses in Malawi,” reads the statement.
The ambassador also stressed the support that would be most welcomed by Malawi in the various programmes that the administration of President Prof. Peter Mutharika had embarked on such as Public Sector Reform, the Public Finance Management Reform, Community Colleges and the Wildlife Protection Programme.
The Ambassador said this was in addition to the programmes that the US, through USAID is currently supporting Malawi on in areas of agriculture and food security, health, education, democracy human rights and governance, and environment and climate change.
The Ambassador briefed President Obama on what Malawi government was doing on climate change. He also thanked the US Government and its people for the support that Malawi received in dealing with the effects of floods and requested further support in reconstruction including finding long- term measures for disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation.
In reply President Obama said Malawi and the US share a strong relationship and that he was delighted to have welcomed President Mutharika to the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington in August 2014.
States the statement; “Malawi’s prosperity depends on its greatest resource, its people and that the United States is committed to helping Malawi invest in its people and build a more prosperous future.”
According to the statement President Obama further referred to the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact for the improvement of access to stable electricity in Malawi.
According to the statement, President Obama also noted Malawi’s sustainable contributions to peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ivory Coast which according to him highlights Malawi’s commitment to regional stability and Malawi’s leadership in the region.
