Minister of industry Roy Kachale said most small and medium enterprises are complaining that they are facing challenges to get some services such as electricity connection from public institutions such as utility bodies due to alleged tough conditions and corruption.

He made the remarks Wednesday when he visited OPTICHEM 2000 Limited and Kombeza Factories in Blantyre to appreciate the way the institutions are operating as well as to encourage them to continue employing more Malawians.

"Most of the problems we have heard from the SMEs we have visited some can be fixed immediately, for example Kombeza and the bakery we visited yesterday (Tuesday) lamented of corruption by some service providers such as utility bodies, we need to address this immediately," said Kachale.

Meanwhile, the minister has assured Malawians that his ministry will also discuss with other ministries and departments to support small and medium scale businesses buy setting up a special fund on top of the MK75 billion government has provided to support local businesses.

"As a ministry of industry we will be discussing with other ministries to see if we can set up a fund to support small scale businesses" added Kachale.

On the visit at OPTICHEM Kachale said he is impressed with the good work taking place at the company which has employed a lot of Malawians and urged the company to continue creating more jobs.

OPTICHEM will be selling fertilizer at a reduced price of not more than MK5000 per 50 kilogram bag as promised by the Tonse Alliance administration.

OPTICHEM general Manwinder Singh Sagoo expressed optimism that government will support the company to produce more in order to fulfill government's plan to help many people access the cheap fertilizer.

On her part Kombeza Foods managing director Mdingase Tewete while commending the minister for the visit said the institution has potential to grow and provide more employment opportunities to many Malawians but government should ensure challenges such as access to markets, restrictive policies among others are addressed.

She also asked government to partner SMEs with foreign investors as well as removing a fee local producers pay to use buy Malawi Logo.