Rubber Board, India chairman A. Ajith Kumar has called on rubber-producing countries to cooperate in the multilateral level for the development of commodity sectors like natural rubber.
During the inauguration of the 39thAssembly Session of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) at Guwahati in Assam, India, Kumar said the ANRPC has given due importance to the developmental activities with smallholder focus. He also pointed out that the association could contribute tremendously to the natural rubber sectors in member countries.
Comparing the present situation of the natural rubber sector to the time of the establishment of ANRPC, Kumar said that new challenges and issues have significantly changed the circumstances of the rubber sector in the respective member countries.
Kumar also urged the cooperation among member countries to extend to midstream and downstream segments as well, in addition to the upstream segment.
The approach should be to devise strategies to transform the challenges into opportunities through appropriate policies. One of the basic necessities to formulate policies for rubber development is sharing of information among member countries so that time-tested practices, policies and systems could be emulated, calibrating them to the domestic conditions, he added.
San Vanty, chairman of ANRPC, representing Cambodia, chaired the meeting and delivered the introductory statement. Toms Joseph, joint director, Rubber Board, representing India, welcomed the gathering.
Other speakers included Salmiah Ahmad, chief executive officer, International Rubber Consortium Ltd; Abdul Aziz, secretary general, IRRDB; Lekshmi Nair, Head of Economics and Statistics, IRSG. A public-private meet was also held. The closed session of the Assembly is scheduled for October 21. This session will appoint a new Secretary-General and Chairman for ANRPC.
ANRPC is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1970 and has at present 11 member countries including Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. The member countries of the association account for around 90% of natural rubber production in the world.