INVESTMENT PROMOTION IN

MALAWI: FROM ZERO TO WORLD GOOD

PRACTICE

BY

Suzana Tangu MjuweniInvestment Promotion Manager

Malawi Investment Promotion Agency

26th October 2010

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Presentation Outline

MIPA’s Background and Objectives Website as an Investment Promotion Tool Website Management Long-Term Plans Conclusion

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MIPA: Background and Objectives

MIPA established in 1991 Mandate : to promote, attract, encourage, facilitate and

support investment in Malawi Responsibilities:

Developing favorable investment image of Malawi;Policy advice to Government.

5 sectors of focus: manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, mining, & infrastructure development

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MIPA: Background and Objectives Strategy for Investment Attraction:

The 5 sectors are in line with government’s development agenda and thus have government support through public investments and incentives

MIPA’s investment promotion strategy: increasing visibility and awareness of Malawi as a country

Promotional Strategy versus MIPA’s Website:Content: relevant and timely information; presents

positive image about Malawi, focuses on the 5 priority sectors

Allocation of funds: • to collect information on the 5 priority sectors• to create and increase awareness of the website globally

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Old versus New Website

Before 2007 MIPA concentrated on other modes of investment promotion without much emphasis on the website as a promotional tool.The old website was very basic, unattractive and non-interactive such that it provided poor information to its users.

Current MIPA Website Old MIPA Website

•User friendly•Dynamic•Interactive•Well organised information•Managed by IT section

•Not attractive•Not structured•Not interactive•Difficult to maintain•Took time to load•Contained inconsistent information

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Website: Achievements to-date

One of the top 7 COMESA websites according to the Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking (GIPB) –Eyes on COMESA

Winner of the Africa Investor Award for 2008 - Best IPA Category (praised for accurate and updated information on the website)

Website received a total of 150 enquiries through the website link from 2007 to date broken down as follows: 41 in 2007, 53 in 2008, 56 in 2009, 63 for 2010 to (October 2010)

These inquiries have been attended to and some have materialised into potential projects e.g. electricity generation project, Fruit and Vegetable Agro processing plant

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Secret Behind MIPA’s Website Development Wide consultation prior to the website development

phase with various departments within MIPA and stakeholders, including investors

Studied websites of Best Practice IPAs globally Adhered to the ‘Simplicity Principle’ Adhered to the ‘Consistency in Presentation of

Information’ Principle Developed with current technology that make websites

easily accessible Investment in ICT: Computers, Servers, LAN, training

of web managers

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Focus on Website: Importance of Management Support

The role of MIPA Management in developing and maintaining the website is emphasized and encouraged through: Coordination by Managers from respective

departments in providing website information Quality Assurance - information is verified before

being posted on the website by the Corporate Affairs Manager

Capacity Building - with the ever-evolving ICT industry, IT website managers go for training courses in data and website management regularly

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Website: Management, Content and Value-Added

Website Management: by a dedicated 2-man team in IT section in collaboration with:Planning and Research DepartmentBusiness Information DepartmentCorporate affairs DepartmentsOther departments on an as needs basis

Content: positive country information, brief, informative, variety in packaging e.g. profiles, news, feedback link, sectoral information, etc.

Benefits of providing timely information: prospective investors make informed decisions correspondence costs with investors reduced

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Putting Positive and Relevant informationabout your country on the website is essential tomake a business case for your country

One of the first pages that welcomes an investor On our website under the ‘Investing in Malawi’tab is a 4 line brief with 8 bullets emphasizing that Malawi welcomes Private Investors and 8 reasons to invest in Malawi.

Brief and to the Point!!!

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Website as a Powerful Marketing Tool

Marketing of the Website Website advertisement - funds are allocated to

promoting the website Ease of access-through continuous monitoring of the

availability of the website

Marketing of the website has translated into effective and efficient outreach

Effective and efficient outreach – why does it pay off? Investor inquiries are addressed expeditiously It is reachable everywhere in the world Reduced promotional & physical outreach costs Reduced production cost of promotional tools

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One key activity of MIPA’s IP Department is to Broker Local Private Investment Projects for Partnership with Foreign Investors.

Our website has a collection of such local projects aiming at:•Providing local project specifications in detail•Promoting domestic private sector projects•Encouraging foreign participation in Local Projects through JVCs, Loans, and grants

This ultimately allows Malawi’s private sector to learn from foreign firms through knowledge transfer and Exposure.

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Why is Online Inquiry Facilitation Important?

Online investor inquiry facilitation and feedback mechanism through the website

Improves efficiency: reminders are made every five minutes until an inquiry has been attended to

Improves investors confidence: inquiries go straight to investment promotion Department’s mail account where they are answered within the shortest time possible

Cost effectiveness: reduces number of physical investment promotion visits abroad and promotional materials

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Benefits of Effective Website Management System

1. Offers competitive advantage: # of investment license applications has increased due to improved communication and accessibility to up-to-date business information

2. Reduced operational costs: phone communication replaced by built-in email system through link on website

3. Improved efficiency: with the introduction of online inquiry/feedback mechanism time taken to get back to the prospective investor enquiries is reduced

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4. Reliability: business information is regularly updated, hence accurate

5. Reduced cost-of-doing business: communication cost on the part of an investor is reduced through the usage of online inquiry form

6. Improved Outreach: MIPA receives enquiries from countries that had never enquired before and from those without diplomatic ties with Malawi unlike in the past where enquiries were limited to a few countries

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1. Develop an IT Strategic Plan to address: Database based dynamic site Integrated I-Portal established for MIPA Online investment processing e.g. Investment

Certificate, Permits, and Land ICT capacity increased Integrated to the Management Information System

2. Information Collection and Coordination Should be regular Should be inclusive

MIPA’s Long-Term Plans

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3. Feedback and Inquiries Management Be monitored regularly Follow up Provide RELAY of information that has come

through us to relevant government institutions e.g. export promotion, Chamber of Commerce

4. Website Advertisement Through local and international media Branding

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Conclusion

Taking into consideration the issue of globalization and the coming in of E-commerce it is very important for IPA’s to invest in their ICT and link it properly with investment promotion

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THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Questions? jrkbanda@mipamw.org

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