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.