Chilima made the remarks on Friday in Lilongwe when he opened a United Nations funded Trade and Development Conference (UNCTAD) for members of the cabinet.

In his remarks Chilima urged cabinet ministers to seize the opportunity that UNCTAD has availed to them to improve their capacities in policy making on international trade and investment for sustainable development.

He said the challenges Malawi is facing require concerted efforts to have them addressed.

"You will agree with me that the challenges of poverty, unemployment, inequality, raw commodity export dependence, just to mention a few, that Malawi and the other African countries are facing - require concerted and aggressive efforts to address them," said Chilima.

The Vice President disclosed that the cabinet retreat has been made possible following an invitation which President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika extended to the Secretary General of the UNCTAD during the 3rd Tripartite Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Eastern Africa Community (EAC) in Sharma-Al-Sheikh, Egypt in July, 2015.

On behalf of President Mutharika, Chilima expressed gratitude to the Secretary General of UNCTAD, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi for accepting the invitation.