Business, Investment, Trade and Tourism (BITT) Forum Sept 2016
On Wednesday September 7th we held the latest meeting of the Business, Investment, Trade and Tourism (BITT) Forum.
On Wednesday September 7th we held the latest meeting of the Business, Investment, Trade and Tourism (BITT) Forum.
The forum has been running quarterly for the last 2.5 years and exists to bring people together to share knowledge and ideas, and explore opportunities for partnership and collaboration, towards creating sustainable, inclusive, pro-poor economic development in Malawi.
This meeting included:
- An update (via Skype from Lilongwe) from Matthews Mtumbuka from Airtel Malawi on some the key challenges and opportunities in Malawi for business development.
- We were joined by Alan Mahon, the founder of Brewgooder, to tell us how drinking craft beer can help support water projects in Malawi with SMP members Oxfam and Wateraid.
- Peppy Sparrow, told us about Oxfam’s Scottish Government funded work in Malawi on 'water, women and work' is tackling inequality and reducing poverty.
- Lydia Baffour Awuah from Opportunity International shared with us how 1,000 poor entrepreneurs will directly benefit from a Scottish Government funded project by receiving loans, training and mentoring to build solid micro SME business.
- Keith Bohannon, from the Scotland Malawi Partnership, presented a draft paper on BITT Outcomes and Learning. Key successes have been the promotion of 12 Malawian products, the introduction of three new products from Malawi into the Scottish market and support for media coverage of Malawi as a world class tourism destination.
- David Hope-Jones, from the Scotland Malawi Partnership, outlined the plans for the SMP 2017-20 strategy, where BITT will feature strongly as SMP look to be agile and pro-active in identifying and responding to opportunities, particularly in trade and tourism.
After the meeting, members remained to network and enjoy a taste of Brewgooder Clean Water Lager.
Minutes, presentations and papers from the meeting will be available from next week. If you are interested in these, or finding out more about the BITT forum, please get in touch with Keith (keith(at)scotland-malawipartnership.org).
