Renowned economist Professor Betchani Tchereni says Malawians should normalize buying locally produced products to help boost the economy.

Prof. Tchereni was commenting on how the country going forward can benefit from events such as the International Trade Fair which fosters internal and international trade relations.

He said locals should make it a point to not only preview commodities put on display by indigenous business persons but should also purchase these products.

“When we went there, we saw products on display Malawian products on display. The question we should be asking ourselves is have we been able to secure one of the products in any of our purchases as customers.

“This is very important because this has the potential to take the economy further as then we will begin to see other products being displayed in the future,” Tchereni said.

Prof. Tchereni also called on the country’s diplomatic corps to ensure that it is playing its role and following up on the networking opportunities opened up by the fair.

He said: “Our embassies have to be held to task and find out if the products displayed at the fair have been able to identify markets and if they have who are the buyers.”

Malawi hosted the 32nd edition of the International Trade Fair held in Blantyre from July 28 to August 7, 2022 under the theme “Achieving business resilience through market diversification”.