KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) — Cambodia and Vietnam have expressed interest to join the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC), said the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities Friday.
The ministry said senior officials of ITRC had held discussions with the Cambodian and Vietnamese officials to explore approaches that would best suit their situation.
“The ITRC aims to strengthen collaboration with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) as well as China, the major natural rubber (NR) consumer,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ITRC and CLMV countries collectively account for 73 per cent of global NR production.
The ITRC, which consists of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, was established in December 2001 to promote cooperation among the major NR producing countries towards ensuring stable NR prices.
The ministry said the ITRC had also invited CMLV countries, which are also major rubber producing countries, to participate in the 25th ITRC Meeting on Sept 10-11 in Kuala Lumpur.
It added that the close cooperation between ITRC and CLMV countries at the meeting reflected their commitment to improve the match between rubber supply and demand to stabilise prices for the benefit of the rubber smallholders and the industries.
Among the issues discussed during the meeting were work plan on the establishment of a Regional Rubber Market by mid-2016, as a platform for price discovery and hedging.
“The outcome of the 25th ITRC Meeting will be tabled at The Ministerial Committee Meeting in November 2015, which will take stock of the progress and consider new measures to strengthen the ITRC cooperation,” said the ministry.
