Uganda is courting Thai investors to invest in its minerals and coffee as well as the tourism industry. Early this week, officials offered 10-year tax holidays and full foreign ownership to businesses willing to set up in the East African nation.
Uganda’s Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Henry Musasizi made the pitch at an economic networking dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. The dinner was held on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings, which run through October 18.
“Uganda is now Africa’s leading coffee exporter. We are seeking investors to invest in processing coffee, and other agricultural commodities,” Musasizi told Thai officials and business leaders.
The minister said Uganda wants to process its minerals at home instead of exporting them raw. He invited Thai companies to make electric batteries from lithium, automotive steel from iron ore, fertilizers from phosphates, and electrical components from copper and cobalt from the Kilembe mines in western Uganda.
Uganda is trying to grow its economy tenfold, from about $70 billion now to $500 billion by 2040. The country is banking on agro-industry, tourism, minerals and oil, and technology to get there.
“Thailand’s own journey shows focused investment in agrobusinesses, industrialization including high-tech manufacturing, and tourism development can support high economic growth and transformation. Uganda is now on that path,” Musasizi said.
Dr Ramathan Ggoobi, permanent secretary and secretary to the treasury, named agro-processing, light manufacturing, and tourism and hospitality as the sectors where Uganda and Thailand are best matched.
He said Thai hotel brands could invest in Uganda’s eco-tourism sector, which earned $1.62 billion last year, up 21.3%. He said Thai food technology could process Ugandan crops, which are harvested year-round, and Thai manufacturers could assemble car parts and electronics for sale across Africa.
To attract investors, Ggoobi said qualifying manufacturers and agro-processors pay no income tax for 10 years. He said machinery and industrial inputs are exempt from import duty, and investors can send dividends and capital home without restriction.
“In Uganda, we are committed to doing whatever is necessary to facilitate your investment,” he said.
Musasizi said an investment can be registered in one day, and that foreign investors can own their businesses outright, although joint ventures with local partners are encouraged.
“Through joint ventures and partnerships, Thailand investors can easily establish successful businesses in a fairly short time, earning profits ranging from 15-25% per year,” he said.
Ggoobi said Uganda’s economy grew 6.4% in the fiscal year that ended in June, and is projected to grow 10.2% this fiscal year. Much of that depends on commercial oil production from the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields near Lake Albert, which has been delayed several times.
He said exports of goods and services rose 34% to $18.4 billion, and foreign direct investment reached $3.7 billion in 2025.
Urasa Mongkolnavin, director general of the Thai Foreign Ministry’s Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs, said the two countries had a long friendship and room for greater economic cooperation. She told the audience that Asia was not far from Africa.
Uganda’s High Commissioner to Thailand, Dr Betty Bigombe, called for deeper engagement between the two countries. Her mission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, organized the dinner with Uganda’s finance ministry. Bank of Uganda Gov. Dr. Michael Atingi-Ego was also part of the delegation.
Organizers said Thai investors showed particular interest in agro-industry, mining, oil and gas, manufacturing, finance and tourism.
Trade between the two countries remains small. Thailand exported about $24.7 million in goods to Uganda in 2024, roughly half of it vehicles, according to U.N. Comtrade data.
No investment deals were announced at the dinner. It was Uganda’s second investment pitch in Bangkok in less than a year, after a business forum in November 2025.
“Together, let us turn the friendship between our two countries into factories, export growth, jobs and shared prosperity,” Musasizi said.