Mozambique: LNG to drive tripling in foreign direct investment in 2024 - government
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Mozambican Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Max Tonela, is to pay a working visit to Thailand from 17 to 21 July, which will, inter alia, review the bilateral accord signed in 2013 covering hydrocarbon development.
This agreement was signed when the then Thai Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, visited Maputo. This was the first time a Thai leader had visited Mozambique since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1989.
Thailand has two major stakes in Mozambique’s economic development.
The Thai state oil company PTT holds an 8.5 per cent share in the Rovuma Area 1 exploration zone, off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado. This area contains at least 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The operator of the block, the US company Anadarko, is due in the first half of 2019 to take its final investment decision on developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project using this gas deposit. Besides holding a stake in the LNG venture, PTT is lined up to buy LNG from the consortium.
The other major project involving Thai investors is the proposed construction of a new railway and deep-water port at Macuse in Zambezia province. Here, the investor is Thai Mocambique Logistica (TML).
This project covers a completely new railway line from Chitima in Cahora Bassa district, in the western province of Tete, through the coal-rich territory of Moatize, and on to Macuse on the coast.
Construction of the railway is expected to begin in the second half of 2019 and could create 20,000 jobs. The 639-kilometre long railway and the port will cost an estimated 2.7 billion US dollars.
The majority shareholder in TML is the Italian Thai Development Company of Thailand, with 60 per cent. Its partners are Mozambique’s publicly owned port and rail company, CFM, with 20 per cent, while the private Zambezia Development Corridor (CODIZA) holds the remaining 20 per cent.
Accompanying the Minister during his visit will be staff from his ministry and a business delegation.
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