After witnessing the signing of an agreement by the International Trade Promotion Department, Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and Kasetsart University to promote trading and marketing of agricultural equipment and machinery, Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said yesterday that since the government wants to boost value-added exports, agricultural machinery was one of targeted industries that it will keep on marketing.

The agricultural-machinery industry could help add value to exports, while almost 100 per cent of its parts are made locally.

The value of agricultural-machinery exports reached Bt30.17 billion last year and Bt15.81 billion in the first half of this year.

Key products are wheel ploughs, feed mills and grinders, tractors, water pumps and combine harvesters.

Demand was primarily from Asean countries for their rice and grain farming.

Over the past two years, emerging markets in Africa have also shown strong interest in Thai agricultural-machinery innovations. For instance, Thailand is negotiating to establish rice-milling plants in Nigeria. The Thai government, the FTI and Kasetsart could join in technology transfers and training for Nigerian farmers and millers.

Borpit Tangwongkit, an associate professor of agricultural machinery and mechatronics at Kasetsart’s Khamphaeng Saen campus in Nakhon Pathom, said the agreement for Thailand to help establish a mill in Nigeria was expected to be finalised soon.

Initial capital will run in the several hundred millions of baht, which the Nigerian government is keen to support, while Thai enterprises want to form joint ventures.

To promote the sale of agricultural machinery, the ministry urges local entrepreneurs to join the “Thailand Tractor and Agri-Machinery Show” to be held from December 2-11 at the Khamphaeng Saen campus.

More than 150 Thai and international exhibitors will showcase the latest agricultural technologies, ranging from tractors to farming machinery, to 50,000 trade visitors from Asean, Africa, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan and Australia.