A mission from Malawi's newly formed Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology (S & T) visited Zimbabwe to learn from the experiences of its counterpart Ministry and other local organisations whose activities are in the S & T field. The Malawian delegation, led by the Deputy Minister of Industry, Science and Technology, Honorable Charles Mchacha, also visited SIRDC to compare notes. The Malawian entourage included the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr Patrick Kachimera, Director of S & T, Mr Henry Mbeza, and Mr Alfred Nkhoma who is based at the Malawian Embassy in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister for S & T Development, Honorable Patrick Zhuwao, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Vincent Hungwe and other directors in the Ministry accompanied the visitors to SIRDC.

The SIRDC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Geoffrey Chada and his executive management team met the visitors and held wide ranging discussions on a number of topics of mutual interest, including capacity building in S & T, partnership arrangements with the private sector and networking in the region. After the meeting the Malawians were taken on a tour of some of SIRDC' s projects, among them the MCR Tiles, Grinding Mill, Foundry, animal antibiotics and the Electronics and Communications Institute where the Science Laboratory and Teaching Equipment (SLATE) units are being manufactured.

Honorable Mchacha said that he was happy that his delegation had made Zimbabwe its first port of call in Africa in their fact-finding mission. He added that he was confident the lessons learnt during the mission would help in shaping his new ministry's portfolio and work programs.

At the end of their visit, the Malawian delegation invited SIRDC to attend an S & T symposium to be held in that country in September 2005 to showcase some of the premier research products developed in Africa.