The issue of farmland investments is expected to be raised in the first ministerial meeting between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on June 29-30 in Manama.
Eam Ngamdamronk, vice chairman of CP Group, said it was a flexible agreement in which investment could be made in Bahrain, Thailand and also in third countries.
Thailand's Ministry of Commerce says the law is quite clear -- foreign developers cannot invest in the country's agricultural sector, especially the farm sector.
Thai rice farmers and exporters strongly oppose the Gulf Cooperation Council's interest in investing in the Thai farming sector
Al Salam and CP Group will jointly identify suitable agribusiness ventures that will generate attractive risk-adjusted returns while playing a proactive role in addressing food security in the region.
Bahrain-based Islamic bank Al Salam said on Sunday it has signed an agreement with Thailand's agriculture and food company Charoen Pokphand Foods to jointly invest in agricultural businesses.
The Government of Laos has granted a major Thai investor a 10,000 ha concession in two central provinces of Laos to grow sugarcane.
A number of Gulf states have expressed interest in livestock and rice farming in Thailand to secure food supplies, a Thai official said on Monday. "The countries involved could be Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar or the UAE," he added.
The UAE Government is holding talks with Thailand about plans to develop huge livestock farms in the Southeast Asian country.
The issue of food security is getting higher on Riyadh’s priority list.
In 2006, Thailand had about 25 million farmers, who accounted for 40% of the population. The number is likely fall to 37% of the population by 2013. The government must act to reverse the trend, otherwise investors could rent or buy land from farmers to invest in large-scale farming, agricultural processing plants and hiring local people.
The region continues to have great market potential as a number of Thai rice companies have offices there and some have been approached by local governments to invest there in milling, processing and even growing rice.
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