Vice president
.
This morning, I joined virtually His Excellency President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera in launching the Malawi 2063 Vision which will be popularized as MW2063: Kusintha Dziko Lathu Mokomela Aliyense.
If it were not for COVID-19, the launch would have been done with celebration to share our aspirations as a country beyond Vision 2020 which came to an end in December 2020. However, as we all know, circumstances do not allow us to do so. COVID-19 continues to prove to be the defining global crisis of our time. That’s why the launch was done virtually.
In my speech, I was asked to give a broad outline of the document. I indicated that the MW2063 centres on Wealth Creation and Self-Reliance. The Vision will be operationalized by a 10-year Implementation Plan on which a 5-year plan of quick wins will be drawn-out. This is where the detailed strategies and flagship projects will be defined and prioritized.
Structure of the MW2063
The MW2063 is anchored on three key pillars:
- Agriculture productivity and commercialization,
- Industrialization
- Urbanization (with development of tourism hubs as a key component).
The achievement of these three pillars will be catalysed by seven enablers, namely:
a. Environmental sustainability,
b. Economic infrastructure,
c. Human capital development,
d. Private sector dynamism,
e. Public sector performance,
f. Effective governance institutions and systems,
g. Mind-set Change.
Implementation Principles and Modalities
There are two lessons that we learnt from Vision 2020 as a country. The first lesson is that the national development agenda did not survive political transitions. Successive administrations wanted to be identified with their own projects to the detriment of the agreed national development agenda. Second, there was poor alignment between the long-term Vision, medium term plans that operationalize it, and the annual budgets that fund it.
Now, having learnt from past mistakes, the implementation framework of the MW2063 seeks to remedy this defect through guiding principles that will include the following:
- Alignment of party manifestoes to the Vision, its Pillars and Enablers;
- Alignment of medium-term development plans and budgets to the Vision;
- Coordinated approach to implementation (Pillar and Enabler Coordination Groups);
- Private sector active involvement in development;
- Deepening regional and global integration; among other principles.
Consequently, implementing the Vision requires and entails a review of the Political Party Act, requiring that henceforth political party manifestos be aligned to the MW2063 and avoid short-termism by political administrations.
Risks and threats
We are mindful and fully aware that COVID-19 can delay our take off. This is why the National Planning Commission in collaboration with Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms as well as the Ministry of Finance are co-ordinating the development of the COVID-19 Socioeconomic Recovery Plan to map a trajectory from response to recovery.
However, we will immediately start nation-wide dissemination of the Vision while identifying flagship projects to kick-start the new Vision.
In concluding my speech, I appealed for the need for all Malawians, within and abroad, to begin thinking and doing things differently. Mind-set change is needed even more today than when we began talking about it. Achievement of MW2063 requires belief in our own country, dreams and abilities since it demands us to be more productive, innovative and competitive.
Thank you. Mask up, Keep social distance, and protect your loved ones.