THE Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) refers to the letter “China stamps leadership in latex rubber harvesting” by Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Ibrahim (The Star, Dec 23). The writer asserted that despite China not being among the leading producers of natural rubber, this has not stopped it from investing in the latest Industrial Revolution 4 (IR4.0) technologies to improve rubber productivity.
In particular, he pointed out that the Hainan Rubber Group had introduced a remote tapping mechanism which not only reduces dependence on labour but also matches the work of highly-skilled human tappers. He went on to say that this is something Malaysia can learn from.
