Kobe eyes closer ties with Asian exchanges

Kobe eyes closer ties with Asian exchanges

SINGAPORE (Reuter): The Kobe Rubber Exchange (KRE) plans to
start some linkages with Singapore and Malaysia rubber exchanges
and help Thailand launch its rubber futures market, the head of
the KRE said yesterday.

Dick Kitamura said the KRE, Japan's oldest rubber market, was
also willing to offer its expertise to Indonesia if the country
decides to set up a similar exchange.

"If rubber exchanges in Japan, Malaysia, China, Singapore and
Thailand get together and consider linking their operations to
help arbitrageurs and other users, we can create new business,"
he told Reuters in an interview.

Kitamura, leading a 14-member KRE delegation, is in Singapore
for the second leg of a four-nation tour to promote the exchange.
The team has visited Thailand and is due to visit Malaysia and
Indonesia next week.

"We agreed to establish closer ties in the future," Kitamura
said. He declined to give details, saying that discussions were
still at a preliminary stage.

Talks in Kuala Lumpur next week are also expected to center on
similar joint cooperation between the KRE and the Malaysian
Rubber Exchange and Licensing Board, he said.

At a meeting in Hatyai, Thailand earlier this week, KRE
officials backed Thailand's plan to launch its rubber futures
exchange.

Kitamura said yesterday that the KRE would help train Thai
personnel and provide other related expertise in futures trading.

He also said that current talks between the KRE and the Osaka
Textile Exchange on a possible merger would cover areas such as
the introduction of new contracts.