As the world's largest rubber-exporter, Thailand is moving ahead to become the hub of rubber development in Asia and aims not only to improve its competitive strength but also to create value.

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry will host the First World Rubber Summit at Impact Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok, from Wednesday to Saturday, a venue for brainstorming sessions on global trends and innovative products.

About 1,000 planters, manufacturers, users, researchers, traders and exporters will participate.

Subjects will be rubber and latex technology, thermoplastic elastomers, markets and regulations, tyres and automotive parts, and business-matching.

The world's leading users, such as US-based Ford Motors, Japan-based Bridgestone and , European and other organisations that have conducted a lot of research, will also be present and focus on global trends.

Nopadol Suanprasert, director-general of the Rubber Replanting Aid Fund Office, said Thailand wanted to improve its competitive strength and bargaining power in the world market and needed to become the world's price-setter as well as a reference source.

"We are the world's biggest rubber-exporter but have missed out on setting a world price due to lack of proper marketing management," he said.

Thailand controls the lion's share of 40 per cent of the world rubber market, and its export volume last year reached 2.83 million tonnes, worth Bt148.86 billion, 90 per cent of which was natural rubber. The ministry expects natural-rubber exports this year to maintain the same percentage of total rubber exports but to be worth Bt215 billion, with rubber products worth Bt70 billion.

Nopadol said the ministry had drawn up a road map focusing more on products.

Thailand wants to be a hub of rubber development, he said, a "one-stop service" providing integrated services from production and marketing, to research and development and logistics.

Products export is set to reach 20 per cent within the next three years, compared to the current 10 per cent, generating more foreign exchange.

He said more needed to be spent on R&D, not only on production and product development but also on marketing strategy. The office has an annual R&D budget of Bt100 million.

R&D has until now focused on production rather than industrial-goods development. The road map will emphasise innovative products that actually serve market demand.

"Thailand has been exporting natural rubber and yet importing rubber products. This is a loss of value," he said.

Rising oil prices and world economic growth are important factors in increasing global rubber demand and price, he said, noting that the local price of natural rubber had skyrocketed from Bt19-Bt20 a kilogram a few years ago to Bt100 today.

Nopadol said labour shortage was another problem that needed to be solved so as to obviate the use of migrant workers from Laos, Burma and Cambodia.

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation