Chakwera in New York for LDCs meet

 President Lazarus Chakwera arrived in New York on Tuesday where he is scheduled to attend the Fifth United Nations (UN) Least Developed Countries ( LDCs ) Conference.

The conference will be held in two parts with the first taking place today at the United Nations Headquarters and the second part in Doha, Qatar from March 5 to 9 next year.

Chakwera , who arrived through JFK International Airport, was welcome d by Malawi’s permanent representative to the UN Agnes Chimbiri Molande, Secretary to the President and Cabinet Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi, Malawi’s Ambassador to the United States of America Judge Esmie Chombo and Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati.

According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo, during the LDCs conference, the President will lobby for both bilateral and multilateral assistance in the areas of trade and investment.

“This would help Malawi attract more foreign direct investment and establish markets for products and services to expand the export base at large,” she said during a press briefing in Lilongwe on Monday before the President’s departure.

Besides deliver ing a keynote address at the LDCs meeting, Chakwera is scheduled t o hold bilateral meetings with the UN, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other. high-ranking officials and world leaders.The President is today scheduled to meet the UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres, UN Development Programme administrator Achim Steiner, Qatar Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Adulrahman Al- Thani and UN General Assembly president, who is also the acting high representative for the LDCs and Small Island Developing States, Abdulla Shahid.

Chakwera, in his capacity as chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), will also meet Sadc diplomats in the US to discuss issues affecting the region.

As for the conference, which the President is attending in his capacity as chairperson of 46 LDCs, its expected outcome is a new 10-year programme of action.

LDCs are a category of States that are deemed highly disadvantaged in their development process due to structural, historical and geographical reasons.

Currently, the 46 LDCs comprise around 880 million people, representing 12 percent of the world’s population and face severe structural impediments to growth