Malaysia changes policy of its rubber industry

Malaysia changes policy of its rubber industry

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia announced it was revamping its
natural rubber policy, saying current productivity needed to be
enhanced to match rising competition from other producers.

"The cabinet has directed my ministry to draw up a new policy
for the rubber industry so that its potential could be maximized
for better returns," Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik
said.

Lim, who launched talks Thursday among experts to help draft
the policy, said a new blueprint for the rubber industry would
enhance technology transfer to smallholders and improve yield to
match that of competing countries.

"The yield in smallholdings, which contribute 70 percent of
our rubber production, is only 200 kilograms (440 pounds) per
hectare (2.47 acres) and this is very much less than that of
Thailand and Indonesia," Lim said.

"How can this be when we have good rubber clone stocks which
can produce up to 3,000 kilograms per hectare," he asked. "It is
a pity that much of the technology we have did not filter down to
the smallholders and the industry," he said.

Malaysia has fallen behind Thailand and Indonesia in rubber
production after reigning as the world's number one natural
rubber producer for almost a century until 1988.

Lim said Malaysia had to improve because its competitors were
producing quality rubber, entering the same markets and offering
lower prices for the commodity.

Malaysia's natural and processed rubber exports, mainly to
Europe and the United States, totaled five billion ringgit (two
billion dollars) last year. The rubber industry provides
employment to 500,000 people locally.