President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has departed for Doha, Qatar where he is expected to chair the 5th Summit of Least Developed Countries.

Speaking before the departure at Kamuzu International Airport, Dr Chakwera said the summit provides a platform where leaders from the 46 countries will discuss a range of issues including governance and how countries like Malawi can graduate from the LDCs.

To date six countries have graduated from the least developed country status:

Botswana in December 1994

Cabo Verde in December 2007

Maldives in January 2011

Samoa in January 2014

Equatorial Guinea in June 2017

Vanuatu in December 2020

The President said the graduation of these countries provides an inspiration that Malawi can also do it.

The five-day conference will gather the private sector, civil society, legislators, and young people to advance new ideas, raise new pledges of support, and spur delivery on agreed commitments, through the Doha Programme of Action.

This year’s theme is: ‘From Potential to Prosperity’.