Vice President Dr Saulos Klaus Chilima says the country is geared to improve the tourism sector to make it continue contributing to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) .
Chilima who is also the Minister Responsible for Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms made the remarks today after meeting the Minister of Tourism , Culture and Wildlife Dr Michael Usi marking the end of the first phase of engagements with cabinet ministers on Public Sector Reforms.
The Veep says the country has potential to increase the contribution of tourism to her economy.
“The Ministry presented four reform areas bordering on strengthening institutional capacity through functional reviews, devolving selected tourism functions to councils, reviewing legislation to respond to modernity and facilitation of Public Private Partnerships to increase investment and competitiveness in the tourism sector,”
“I have since impressed on the Ministry to begin to consider a total revolution of the sector because tourism is the next biggest opportunity for growth for Malawi. To achieve this, the Ministry plans to create a Malawi Tourism Authority that would effectively and efficiently manage Malawi as a tourism destination. The sector already contributed 7.7 percent to the GDP in 2017 but there is massive potential to increase this,” he says.
Chilima says the sector is expected to be the backbone of the Malawi economy.
“If we are to harness the sector as a critical pillar to the next development agenda, Vision 2063, then we will need a serious revolutionary approach to tourism,”
“Going forward, the Ministry proposes to construct purpose-built infrastructures and place monuments and heritage sites under concession with the view of contributing to revenue generation while at the same promoting tourism,” he says.
