Professor Mutharika said through knowledge on science, technology and innovation offered at the University, the country can produce world class inventors and turn the country from a technology consumer to a technology exporter.

President Mutharika said his government recognizes science and technology as important drivers of the country’s economy and he therefore urged MUST to be the centre of science and innovations.

“My government promises to continue rallying all our energies around nurturing world-class education for our children through construction of good universities and provision of all necessary aspects that comes with such places of higher learning.

“Together we will build a resilient university system that will propel our national development agenda for many years to come,” said Mutharika.

Speaking earlier, Chairperson for the University’s Council, Dr Andrew Daudi said MUST is committed to doing business with local and international partners to ably achieve its mission.

“MUST is very ambitious and determined to do business unusual. This is a university that would like to work with local and international partners not only as one way of learning how others are doing it in higher education but also sharing our knowledge and skills with them.

“We believe we have potential to achieve great things hence the need to look for platforms for exposure. So far, we are a member of the Southern Africa Regional Universities Association (SARUA), Association of African Universities and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and we will soon be a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities,” explained Daudi.

He further said they also have bilateral partnerships with a number of regional and international universities, all aimed at ensuring that MUST’s programmes and operations are of international standards.

“In line with our motto of “Where Excellence Reigns” we are also working hard to put in place systems, structures and mechanisms to support our growth agenda.

“Already, we have produced and, in some cases, launched some strategic documents such as Performance Management Handbook, Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Financial Management Policy, and other related policy documents. Our Strategic Plan for 2016-2021 is being finalized and we consulted widely to ensure that our plans are guided by people’s expectations of us,” he said.