(Nov. 11, 2016, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning)

 

Hon. Goodall Gondwe, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Malawi,

Mr. Wan Wei, Managing Director of Huawei Technologies (Blantyre) Co., Ltd, 

Officials from the Government and Escom,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Today I am very pleased and honored to join you in the Signing Ceremony of the Framework Agreement on the Provision of Concessional Loan by China to Malawi on the Project of Malawi National Fiber Backbone.

As everybody knows, now we are in an era of information. This era represented by the internet has already brought great and profound impact on our way of production and daily life. It has created the new space for people's life, open new horizons of the state governance, and significantly enhanced our ability to understand and shape the world where we are living. Thanks to the internet, communication is easier than ever before and our world has become a global village where distance no longer prevents people from interacting with each other. We are lucky to live in this fantastic world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

While the internet is invisible, the internet users are visible. Even though Malawi is one of the least developed countries, the Malawian people are entitled to play an role in our global village. Now with the building of the Malawi National Fiber Backbone, which assisted by the Chinese government and conducted by the Chinese company Huawei, our Malawian friends will timely enjoy the benefits of this information era in the quite near future.

Firstly, this Project will create an important engine of the Malawian economy. The internet-based economy could change the structure of production and break the traditional method of doing business. China is an vivid example, particularly today. In China, we call today the "Double 11 Day", when many online stores offer huge discounts and lots of Chinese people will do massive Internet shopping. Last year, the Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company, topped 14.34 billion USD in the 24 hours. That's the power of internet. As an agricultural country, Malawi can take the advantages of internet to help the local farmers , especially small-scale farmers to enter the market more easily and effectively. They can also use the network to sell their products to the domestic or even international buyers.

Secondly, this Project will play an important role in promoting employment and reducing poverty. Up to June 2016, the e-economy in China has created 2.85 million direct and 21 million indirect job opportunities. The improvement of network ability and the decline of charges will tremendously inject vitality into the development of Malawian information industry and greatly enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of Malawi all over the world.

Thirdly, this Project can significantly improve the speed and stability of internet, and also greatly reduce the average access cost. I was told that the backbone fiber will cover 26 cities and districts of Malawi. All Malawians can enjoy convenient and efficient government services and information channels. The high-speed and reliable fiber network will also help the government in information construction and E-government development. At the same time, the improvement of efficiency and ability will make it easier for the government to collect views of all sectors of society in a wider range, strengthen two-way interaction of information with the people and improve the ability of risk management and response.

 Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malawi eight years ago, China has provided substantial assistance to Malawi, in the areas of education, health, agriculture, and infrastructure in particular. The Parliament Building, BICC, MUST, Bingu National Stadium and Bingu Highway, all of these mega projects are the vivid symbols of our young but vigorous and productive relations and cooperation.

Last month, I traveled to the northern part of Malawi and visited the Bingu Highway. This Highway was built by the grants of the Chinese Government and shortens the trip between Karonga and Chitipa from 8 hours to 1 hour, which dramatically facilitates the flow of people and goods of the two districts and promotes the economic development in the north even in the whole country. Today, we are witnessing the beginning of the cornerstone of a new "Information Highway" in Malawi. And I firmly believe it will definitely bring a brand new page in our relationship.

In conclusion, I wish this project a complete success.

Thank you!