SCOTLAND-MALAWI JOINT COMMISSION MEETING
THURSDAY 26 JULY 2007
BLANTYRE , MALAWI
- The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Goudie and Mr. M.B. Mbewe, Principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs & International Co-operation for the Government of Malawi. Almost 30 officials from the relevant Malawian Ministries and Agencies attended.
- Dr. Goudie confirmed the Scottish Government's commitment to the relationship with Malawi and presented a message on behalf of the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Ms. Fabiani.
- The message confirmed that this meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of progress made on delivering on the commitments contained in the Co-operation Agreement but also to look to the future and work together to consider how we can best meet the future priorities for Malawi.
- Mr. Mbewe welcomed Ms Fabiani's continued commitment and confirmed the strong commitment of the Government of Malawi and their agreement with the approach adopted.
- Reporting on progress was led by Malawi with comments and reflections from Scotland.
- Discussions were held across all strands of the agreement. Good progress is being made in most areas but it was agreed to prioritise further and address areas where progress has been slower to materialise. It was acknowledged that we need to focus on delivery and outcomes rather than identifying new and additional areas at this stage.
- Malawi's new Growth & Development Strategy (launched by the President on Wednesday 25th July) was discussed. This outlines the Government's priorities for the next five years and provides a strong indication of their areas of interest and in particular their focus on economic development as a mechanism for real growth. There is a clear read across the Strategy, the Co-operation Agreement and the Millennium Development Goals and it was agreed that activity should continue to complement the Strategy.
- It was agreed that the Joint Commission process would continue to act as a regular point of review between our two governments (some ministerial and some official level only meetings).
- Co-ordination within Malawi was discussed. Mr. Mbewe provided a strong lead on this and confirmed that Malawi officials would meet in between Joint Commission meetings to ensure that co-ordination is strengthened within Malawi.
- Mr. Mbewe confirmed that it was the responsibility of Malawian officials to keep abreast of developments and to co-ordinate briefing within their strand groupings.
- Dr Goudie confirmed that the Scottish Government will continue to alert Malawian officials on funding proposals.
The Scottish Government