STATEMENT BY HER EXCELLENCY DR.

JOYCE BANDA, THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MA LAWI AT THE MALAWI NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE CONFERENCE ON MALAWI AT 50 AND PROSPECTS FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS CROSS ROADS HOTEL, LILONGWE TUESDAY, 5TH MARCH, 2014 Justice Richard Banda S.C., (Retired); Rt. Hon. Khumbo Kachali, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi; Hon. Ralph Jooma, MP, Minister of Economic Planning and Development; Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers here present; Mrs. Hawa Ndilowe, Chief Secretary to Government; Prof. Mathews Chikaonda, Chairman of the High Level Development Council; And all Members of the Council here present; Madame Luisa Dias Diogo, Former Prime Minister of Mozambique, Brenthurst Foundat ion Board and member of PACE; Mr. Alberto Trejos, Head of INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, Brenthurst Foun dation Advisory Board and Chairperson of PACE; And all Members of PACE here present; Leaders of various political parties; Representatives of International Organizations and Development Partners; Traditional leaders; Leaders of Religious Organizations; Government officials here present; Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. I am very delighted to preside over this important National Consultative Confere nce which has been organized by the High Level Development Council that my gover nment set up in January this year. I am informed that the Conference is being co nvened under the theme: Malawi: the Next 50 Years . The objective of the Conference is to reflect on national development over the p ast five decades and begin to strategize on the next 50 years. It is important, therefore, that as a nation we come together and discuss the development opportu nities and challenges of our beautiful nation, and position ourselves to redeem the times. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen As we are all aware, Malawi will be celebrating a jubilee on 6th July this year, commemorating 50 years of independence. I believe this moment provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our past, draw lessons and inspiration on what the 50 years have offered us as a nation. This moment further provides us yet another opportunity to think and reflect cle arly about the nation we want to become in the next 50 years. We are in this transition with a moment of hope and I thank God to have placed m e as President of this great nation at such a time when we can face the future w ith reality. The two years I have been in power have taught us few lessons, that : i) We can make difficult decisions even in the face of uncertainty as we did wit h devaluation of our currency 22 months ago. Our country was at the verge of tot al economic collapse but we have been able to recover from such catastrophe desp ite the challenges we are facing. Today, we can easily boast of more than two mo nths import cover in our foreign reserves from under a week s cover. Today, we can boast of a stable availability of foreign exchange. ii) We can mobilise ourselves to build our economy despite constraints in our en vironment. Today, we can boast that we have grown our economy from 1.8 per cent in 2012 to 4.5 per cent in 2013 despite numerous challenges we have faced. Our e conomy is diversifying and many critical challenges to the economy are receiving

attention than never before. Today, our industries are operating at more than 75 per cent production capacity from 30 per cent in 2012. Today, our electricity generation capacity is at 352 mega watts from 287 mega watts in 2012. Today, our people enjoy more freedoms an d exercise more rights than they were in 2012. Today, our agricultural sector is diversifying. Today, our mining sector has been positioned to turn around the f ortunes of our country in a unique manner. Yes, today, our infrastructure progra mmes in railway, airways and roads are taking unprecedented pace. iii) We can demonstrate political will in placing national interests above perso nal political careers as we have done in dealing with the looting of public fund s in Government where previous administrations tried to cover up these malpracti ces. Today, we have an opportunity to face fraud, pilferage and corruption not o nly in Government but also in all sectors of our economy with a united stand. To day, we understand the nature and structure of curtails, as revealed by the inve stigations into the looting of public resources at Capital as involving civil se rvants, banks, private sector and politicians, working in a concerted effort to frustrate the development of our country. Today, we can feel the pain of corrupt ion than never before because our governance systems are working. Many researchers and development specialists have cited bottlenecks in our devel opment efforts. These could have been in the Executive Branch in failing to impl ement development plans as agreed. These could have been in the Legislative in f ailing the oversight role to ensure that national plans are implemented as agree d. Indeed, these could have been in the Judiciary in failing the speedy conclusi on of cases. These three pillars of State need to have a shared view of the deve lopment plans in order to realize a common destiny. During the two years as President of this country, it has been clear to me that as a country we need social, cultural and economic transformation. Many commenta tors have argued that Malawi had a transition without a transformation. I agree. We need to transform our priorities in caring for the needy and the vulnerable among us. We need transformation in our cultural outlook especially our perception and pra ctice of politics. Indeed, we need a transformation in our economy by enhancing rural transformation including wealth and job creation, hunger reduction, improv ing living conditions in our villages and the role of the private sector. In all these, I realize one a. This is the missing link ntation framework: the lack d and focused manner whilst major challenge facing our country s development agend between the nation s development plans and its impleme of momentum to drive the implementation in a balance taking a long term view.

It is with this view that my Government decided to establish the High Level Deve lopment Council (HLDC) to provide leadership in reflecting on the past 50 years of the country s independence and coordinate dialogue among Malawians and with the world at large in defining our destiny in the next 50 years. It is my hope that the Council will help build the momentum to strengthen and mo bilize national efforts and resources in support of development plans; promote n ational ownership of our development policies in all vital sectors of the econom y; and ensure a balanced and focused implementation of our development plans. As I said during the announcement of the Council, and in my State of the Nation Address to Parliament on 18th May 2012, I told the nation that, Malawi has to ide ntify development tablets that will guide our development agenda regardless of w hich government or political party is in power . Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

The Council comprises members from different sectors including the Academia, You th Organizations, Private Sector, Faith-based Organizations, and Civil Society. This diversity in membership will ensure that government is provided with develo pment advice from different perspectives for policy decision. I am sure that the Council s advice to all arms of government and other stakeholde rs on Malawi s national development agenda will go a long way in shaping the direc tion our nation is taking. Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Since independence, Malawi has drawn good development plans which, if effectivel y implemented, would have significantly improved its development status beyond t he current level. It is worth noting that other countries have borrowed Malawi s development plans a nd have succeeded in their development initiatives. This confirms the quality of the national plans that Malawi has developed over the years. However, it is worrying to note that despite many good development plans and pol icies that Malawi has drawn and implemented, the aspirations of Malawians are fa r from being met as we approach the Golden Jubilee of our Independence. Since independence, Malawi has implemented different strategies including the De velopment Policies (Devpols), Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategies Paper (MPRSP), Vision 2020, Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS), and the current Mal awi Growth and Development Strategy II (MGDS II), and re-emphasized by the Econo mic Recovery Plan (ERP). We have had mixed experiences in the implementation and outcome of these develop ment plans. Some have succeeded while others have failed. For example, the per capita income stood at $381 in 2012 which is still far from the $1000 envisioned for the year 2020. At this point in time, with only six years to go before Vision 2020 expires, the situation is not much different from the one just described. About 50.7% of Mal awians are still poor with little or no access to basic needs such as food, medi cal care, education, housing, water and sanitation. With the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) II expiring in 2016 and t he Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ending in 2015, it is timely for Malawi t o reflect and think forward to achieve a better Malawi for all in the coming 50 years. This is not one man s job but for all of us to determine our destiny. Mr. Chairman, I feel it is time we revisited our way of doing things, examine ho w we have implemented our development strategies; where we have gone wrong and t hink through what we can do as a nation to go forward with much focus on the imp rovement of people s lives. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen My dream still stands; I want to see a nation where children can go to school wi thout any barriers and get employed after finishing school; I want to see a nati on with enough medical supplies in our hospitals and that no mother dies when gi ving birth; I want to see a nation where people have decent housing; I want to s ee a nation where no one sleeps on an empty stomach; I want to see a nation wher e transport systems are developed and affordable for all Malawians. I know this is possible to attain if we all work together towards the same goal. Being multi-sectoral and non-partisan, the Council is expected to provide advice to government and other stakeholders on hard policy and development questions s o that our policy and programme implementation propel us to attain rapid and sus

tained socio economic development for the entire country in the medium- to longterm. Mr. Chairman, we need a change of mindset in order to strengthen ownership and a dherence to implementation of national development plans regardless of which gov ernment is in power so that we remain one nation with one vision. This Government is ready to work with all stakeholders to ensure that our develo pment is sustainable and benefits all Malawians. In closing, I want to leave you with five questions to consider which I asked du ring the National Dialogue on the Economy in Mangochi on 29th June 2012: (i) How can we envision Malawi, that is, making Malawi the best small country in the world to do business in? Malawi can be a world leader in a number of sector s including food export, green economy, entrepreneurship, innovation and culture . (ii) How can we re-establish our economic reputation, that is, the role Malawian culture can play in opening doors in new markets and the need to consider stron g support for initiating the Cultural Ambassador model with the appointment of s porting, business and food ambassadors. (iii) How can we re-engage with the emerging markets, that is, highlighting the importance of a structured mobilisation of the diaspora which could be effective i n areas such as mentoring, offering placements and internships, developing an in vestment vehicle through which the diaspora could provide seed funding for Malaw ian business; and in communicating positive messages. (iv) How can we re-energise our country, that is, identifying the need for a pro gramme for mentoring winning managers?. Malawi should focus on increasing its exports not just for products and services , but also its systems and processes in areas where Malawi has particular expert ise such as in agricultural products, Banking and Insurance. (v) How can we transform Malawi? This could be the foundation of the previous fo ur pillars encompassing a range of reform initiatives the country can move into and not a business-as-usual attitude. These are important questions and need important answers. Let me underline and state here that this conference must not concentrate on the oretical solutions; but it must focus on practical and realistic home grown plan s that are tailor-made for Malawi