THE rubber industry in Malaysia has passed through major crossroads, but challenges continue to plague it in the upstream, mid-stream and downstream sectors.
Mired in poverty, 450,000 rubber smallholders perennially plead for more government assistance to augment the low farm gate price of rubber. Yet our SMR (standard Malaysian rubber) factories are facing procurement challenges for raw materials because subsidies via the Rubber Production Incentive (Insentif Pengeluaran Getah) failed to arrest the annual decline in natural rubber production.
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