Maputo, March 6, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambican business leaders want to draw on Thailand's private sector experience to increase rice production, with a view to supplying the local market and southern Africa, it was announced on Friday after a meeting between delegations from the two countries.
"Thailand's experience and technology in this sector are recognised worldwide. (...) Imagine the impact if this experience were applied here in Mozambique. Producing in Mozambique, processing here in Mozambique, locally, and supplying not only our market but the entire southern African region," said Amâncio Gume, vice-president of the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), after a meeting with Thai private sector entrepreneurs visiting Maputo.
According to the representative, a possible partnership between the two countries would allow Mozambique to increase rice production for its own consumption and for export.
Mozambique has 36 million hectares of arable land, vast water resources and climatic conditions that allow for multiple harvests throughout the year, according to the CTA leader, who lamented that "only a small part of this land is fully exploited".
The representative of the Thai private sector delegation, Phong Mekthipphachai, expressed openness to supporting Mozambique with knowledge and technology to develop the agricultural sector.
"We know that you have a lot of land for agricultural production that you can use more efficiently to develop it. You also have the market here, not only in Mozambique, you can produce your products for export to Europe. That's all we can do, collaborate and bring you the technology from our Thailand," Mekthipphachai assured.
For Amâncio Gume, the domestic market is guaranteed for new investments for entrepreneurs who are betting on local production, irrigation, mechanisation and industrial processing of rice, as well as in the sectors of tourism, renewable energy, floriculture, fishing and aquaculture, which are the focus of Thai investment.
"This opportunity is not just about rice. Mozambique has enormous potential in agro-processing, especially in the processing of tropical fruits, and the machines that this mission brings represent exactly the type of technology we need to reduce agricultural losses and create local value," said Gume, calling for partnerships with long-term investments.
The CTA also expressed interest in facilitating the identification of opportunities and helping to transform ideas into concrete projects between the two delegations, with a view to transforming potential into prosperity.
"I imagine a situation where the world is at war and Mozambique manages, for example, to acquire this technology from Thailand and start producing rice locally. So it's an added value for us, because we really need to feed our people," he said.
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