Former United States president, Bill Clinton, who is in the country on an official two-day visit, Wednesday described Malawi as "a serious government" and one of his favourite countries.

Clinton said this after he met President Dr. Joyce Banda in camera at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe where the two held talks on various issues among them, agriculture and health.

The former US President, whose Foundation supports Malawi in health and agriculture, said he was pleased to note that there was progress in a number of areas in the country and that the welfare of most Malawians was improving.

"I'm pleased to note that this is a very serious government and that the president is trying to do what is right," said Clinton, who was accompanied by his daughter, Chelsea Victoria Clinton.

He also expressed satisfaction on what Malawi has achieved with the help of Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in making Anti-retroviral drugs accessible to many people living with the HIV virus, including children.

Clinton also noted that Malawi was doing well in prevention of the virus' transmission from mother to child, another area his initiative was supporting.

In agriculture and food sector, he noted that through the Clinton Development Initiative (CDI), which is aimed at enhancing the production of smallholder farmers and market access, 21, 000 small holder farmers were currently benefiting and that by 2015/16, the program would expand to 100,000 farmers.

In her remarks, President Banda hailed Clinton for being key supporter of her government and the people of Malawi in the implementation of the country's socio-economic transformation agenda.

"I want to really thank you, Mr. President, for being among the first to respond to the call for the reforms that I had initiated soon after taking over Government," said President Banda.

The Malawi President said her vision was to eradicate poverty of her people at both household and national levels through economic growth and wealth creation.

She said: "I have launched the Mudzi (Village) Transformation Trust in order to uplift the livelihoods of the people in the villages.

"Here, I would like to see that our villages are modernised where they have clean water, they participate in the economic activity of the country and earn some incomes."

Clinton is expected to fly out of the country on Thursday.