Malawi-UK Business Group AGM

The SMP is pleased to be part of and support the Malawi-UK Business Group.

We invite all our members interested in Malawi-UK business, trade and tourism to join the group’s AGM

6-8pm

Monday 7^th September 2020

By Zoom

To receive the zoom link you must first book in here.

PURPOSE OF MEETING:

The meeting will look to update the Malawi-UK business community on the work of the Group in the last year and hold elections for all positions on the Executive to lead the group in the year to come. We will discuss key areas relevant to Malawi-UK trade, business and tourism, and we hope the meeting helps stakeholders build new connections and, together, support Malawi-UK business.

WHO IS INVITED?:

Membership of the Group is open to all involved, or interested in, Malawi-UK trade, so please do forward on this email to anyone you feel may wish to join and might have been missed. You can join from the UK, from Malawi or elsewhere. All are welcome.

PRACTICALITIES:

All members need to register HERE before the meeting. Roughly a week before the meeting we will email you the Zoom link.

For those new to Zoom, this is a video conferencing system which is easy and free to use. Shortly before 6pm on the 7^th September please just click the Zoom Link emailed to you and you will be able to join. Numbers are capped at 100, and places will be given on a first-come first-served basis at the time, so we recommend you join on time or a little early.

If you are stuck and technology doesn’t work at the time, you can call/text/WhatsApp 07958 289009.

ELECTIONS:

We will have elections for all positions on the Executive:

1. Chair (current postholder Sanjay Taylor)
2. Secretary (current post holder: Alex Sukali ).

3. Travel and Tourism Lead (current postholder Dom Webb)
4. Business and Investment Lead (current postholder David Smith)
5. Health and Infrastructure Lead (current postholder Prestcott Kaliati).

The Malawi High Commission shall have a position on Executive Committee as per the Terms Of Reference for the Group, which are being sent out as a separate attachment. The Scotland Malawi Partnership shall have a position on the Executive Committee as the Lead for Advocacy.

All positions on the Executive are unpaid and travel is at the cost of the postholder, as the Group has no budget. We ask only those with time, commitment and relevant expertise to stand for election.

Current post-holders are welcome to stand for re-election if they wish. Please email the Group’s Secretary, Alex Sukali (alex.sukali(at)mwukbusinessgroup.co.uk), if you would like to stand for a position on the Executive by 09.00 on the 1^st September. Can we ask all current postholders have also emailed the Secretary by this time to confirm whether they wish to stand again.

If there is more than one applicant for each position, there will be a very short husting and all those at the meeting will be able to vote electronically, live, through Zoom.

The meeting will have five 20-minute sections, each with its own chair from within the Executive, who will lead with making arrangements for speakers and help steer discussions in this section on the day.

If you would like to feed into a particular area, please contact the relevant chair of that section. If you feel strongly that an important area is not adequately covered in this agenda, there is a short AOB at the end, but you are also welcome to email the Secretary (alex.sukali(at)mwukbusinessgroup.co.uk) to make agenda suggestions.

To ensure we keep to time, we will need to be quite disciplined on the evening, but we hope to allow as many as possible to feed in their views, and will work to try and ensure the meeting is as useful as possible, for as many as possible.

AGENDA:

1800: Welcome Remarks - Chairman Sanjay Taylor.

18:10 : Update on the Group’s work: Secretary Alex Sukali.

18.25 : Update from the Government of Malawi: Led by the Malawi High Commission

- To include: Updates and input from the High Commission, MITC and others on the priorities of the new Government of Malawi with regards UK trade. Followed by short Q&A.

18.45 : Travel and Tourism: Led by Dom Webb (dom(at)orbis-expeditions.com)

- To include: Speakers and open discussion around the latest Malawi-UK travel position, how we boost consumer confidence, how we ensure compliance to covid

travel standards, and next steps in supporting the re-opening of travel routes.

19:05 : Lobbying and Advocacy: Led by David Hope-Jones (david(at)scotland-malawipartnership.org)

- To include: What an equitable and effective UK-Malawi Trade Agreement, post-Brexit, looks like, including the updating of the 1955 Malawi-UK Double Taxation Treaty.

19.25 : Business and Investment: Led by David Smith (david.smith(at)britishafrican.org)

- To include: Developing a pipeline of UK-Malawi trade and investment opportunities; supporting diaspora-led investments into Malawi.

19.45 : Elections to the Executive: Led by Alex Sukali (alex.sukali(at)mwukbusinessgroup.co.uk)

- To include: Updating or re-endorsing the Terms of Reference of the Group; elections for all positions on the executive; discussion on the Group’s patron(s).

19.55 :Any other Business

20.00 Close of Meeting

We will look to finish promptly at 20.00 but, those who wish to, are welcome to continue using the Zoom meeting to network socially. Depending on uptake for this, we will divide into digital breakout groups depending on interests/themes.

We hope you can join us on the 7^th September, and hope you are keeping well in these more difficult and uncertain times.