On July 2 2026, H.E. Miss Nipa Nirannoot, Ambassador-Designate of Thailand to Senegal, met with Mr. Javier Madalengoitia, Head of Governance, Ethics, Risk Management and Legal Affairs, and representatives of AfricaRice in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The purpose of the meeting was to follow up on progress and exchange views on the pilot project for sustainable agricultural technology. This project applies the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for sustainable development and involves four partner institutions, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Department of International Cooperation, Kasetsart University, AfricaRice, and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire.

During the meeting, the Ambassador-Designate emphasized the importance and commitment of Thailand to continue working on the pilot project for sustainable agricultural technology since the said project is a flagship under Thailand-Africa Initiative and represents the deliverables of cooperation for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Côte d'Ivoire this year.

The Ambassador-Designate also informed the Thailand’s proposal to establish a Record of Discussion for the implementation of the aforementioned project as well as an implementation checklist and a timeline to monitor status and keep the processes on track. Furthermore, Thailand proposed the creation of educational materials on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in French to better understand and implement the concept among the local communities in Côte d'Ivoire who are participating in the project. The AfricaRice agreed with these proposals and expressed their readiness to fully cooperate with the Thai side and relevant agencies.