Malawi National Trade Policy.

The Malawi National Trade Policy 2016-2021 is a cross-sectoral policy developed to provide a framework for formulation, implementation and coordination of trade related policies. The policy has identified five priority areas - market access, business environment, narrow productive base, high entry cost for small scale producers and traders, and implementation gap - to developing the trade sector. The goal of the National Trade Policy is to make Malawi a globally competitive export- oriented economy, generating higher and sustainable livelihoods through trade. It aims to achieve this goal by driving structural transformation of the productive sector and supporting and managing domestic market structure and integration in regional and global markets through value chains with the ambition of increasing exports.
Its policy outcomes include, among other things, increased participation of small producers and the poor in both domestic and export trade; increased pro-poor impact of trade. In order to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the following measures are set out: a) better integration of medium and small enterprises within the formal economy while also targeting the non-connectivity of the rural areas to markets and services; b) promotion and reduction of entry costs to pro-poor trade. The Government will fund initiatives to support free movement of goods to markets in neighboring countries by micro small and medium enterprises particularly youth and women such as the expansion of the Simplified Trade Regime to Tanzania and Mozambique and enhancement of local market structures such as commodity and warehouse receipt systems. An economic empowerment Bill will also be developed to address the challenges of small scale traders.
Regarding governance, the policy establishes that the Ministry of Industry and Trade which is the lead institution for implementation of trade shall provide leadership for this policy. However, it shall endeavor to engage with all key stakeholders in the policy process and cycle through the National Working Group on Trade policy, the Trade, Industry, and Private Sector Development Sector-Wide Approach (TIPSWAp) implementation framework, and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Trade. This policy is expected to be comprehensively reviewed after (5) years of implementation