Thailand to become regional and world rubber trade hub

BANGKOK, April 5 (TNA) - Thailand will announce national readiness to be a rubber trade leader and centre in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and in the world at the ASEAN Rubber Day 2013 fair, set to be held in the country's southern resort Phuket Province from April 10-12. Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Yutthapong Charassathien told journalists on Friday that, as Thailand is now the world's top producer and exporter of rubber with national income earned from the product standing at over 400 billion baht annually, the Thai government will, thus, announce the Kingdom’s readiness to be a rubber trade leader and centre in ASEAN and in the world at the ASEAN Rubber Day 2013 fair. Yutthapong acknowledged that the three-day fair will be the first occasion when 10 rubber producing ASEAN member countries will meet major rubber importers, including China, Japan and India, and will seal their direct trade deals. Yutthapong expressed his hope that future rubber trade will be arranged through Thailand's forward market, kicking start the country's role as the regional and global rubber trade leader and centre. Currently, Thailand, along with neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia, are the world's major rubber producers and have jointly set export quotas to stabilize global rubber prices. A meeting of a sub-committee tasked with working out strategies to boost the value of Thai rubber, chaired by the deputy agriculture and cooperatives minister, was also held on Friday to discuss the global rubber situation, marketing, relevant technologies, obstacles and Malaysia's rubber trade strategies, considered a learning model for Thailand's development of strategies to boost the national productivity of rubber to 2,000 kilograms per rai (1,600 square metres) annually within 2020, from 1,500 kilograms currently. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan is finding measures to solve the problem of oversupply of some Thai farm products on a sustainable basis, as suggested by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, with possible solutions including agricultural zoning, the development of specific varieties which meet market demand and food preservation. The interior minister asked provincial governors at a teleconference, held earlier in the day, to discuss and work out solutions with local traders, covering those which can increase marketing channels and lead to effective distributions of Thai farm products. (TNA)