About 800 delegates are expected to attend the 2018 Malawi Investment Forum (MIF), the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) has said.

Mitc Public Relations Manager, Deliby Chimbalu, said, so far, 300 delegates have confirmed their participation at the MIF slated for June 11 and 12 at the Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe.

Chimbalu said Mitc is working with Malawi foreign missions to woo more delegates to attend the event.

“We are working with our foreign missions abroad in recruiting more foreign delegates and I am happy to report that our embassies have responded well in promoting the forum out there and we are expecting more delegations to this forum. Our target is to reach 800 delegates,” she said.

Chimbalu further said six financial institutions have confirmed their participation at the forum.

She said the institutions include the Africa Agriculture Investment and Trade Fund, Trade and Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, Standard Bank, National Bank and CDH Investment Bank.

Chimbalu also said, apart from the confirmations for delegates and exhibitors, Mitch has packaged more than 24 ready strategic public projects under Public-Private Partnership agreement.

“These projects have already been shared to all those that have registered and those we invited. We have an additional 18 private sector projects to be discussed at the forum. We want the discussions of the forum to focus on projects other than policy issues,” she said.

The forum, which started in 2015, is aimed at showcasing products and services that are produced in Malawi.

The idea is to help local producers find international markets for their products through interactions they will have with other delegates at the forum.