President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera says the opening of a One-Stop Border Post between Malawi and Zambia will not only strengthen trade between the two countries but also cement the cooperation that has existed between the two sister countries.
President Chakwera was speaking on Wednesday in Mchinji during the official joint opening of the Mchinji- Mwami One Stop Border Post.
He said: “By opening these OSBP facilities between our two countries, we are ensuring that this bond between us remains strong and the relationship between our peoples remains special”
The Malawi leader said people of the two countries are one as evidenced by shared common ideas such as culture, religion, historical facts and spiritual values. On this note President Chakwera asked both sets of citizens not to allow boundaries stand between them.
‘’And it is our duty not to allow those barriers, the border between our countries being chief among them to make us forget that we are fundamentally one people with a common historical, cultural, social, political, spiritual, and natural heritage’’
The Malawi leader thanked the European Union, the British and Germany governments, African Development Bank and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) for their financial support towards the project.
President Chakwera said the new level of cooperation between African states and the donor community should be informed by mutual trust and respect.
‘’We have no interest in having donor a donor community in Africa, which measures impact by the amount of money can throw around. Instead, what we are interested in is having their impact by the depth of relationships of trust and respect they build with Africans, and by the number of development projects they produce with us. That is the Africa we want’’
According to information from Malawi Revenue Authority, the One Stop Border Post initiative is designed to reduce time processing of imports and exports by bringing together all the processing agents in one building or location.
The joint commissioning of the OSBP was also attended by Zambia President, Hakainde Hichilema.