¡¡¡¡JAKARTA, Aug. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The Indonesian Rubber Companies Association (Gapkindo) welcomed Vietnam as the fifth member in theASEAN Rubber Business Club (ARBC), expecting the entry to strengthen the rubber consortium previously comprised Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

¡¡¡¡Gapkindo chairman Asril Amir said Vietnam formally agreed to join ARBC during the 32nd meeting of the club held in Jakarta lastweek.

¡¡¡¡"Given the Vietnam's entry, 90 percent of world's rubber marketshares will be dominated only by four countries, as prior to that Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have controlled 80 percent of world rubber markets," Asril was quoted by economic daily BusinessIndonesia as saying here Monday.

¡¡¡¡Vietnam's rubber production is estimated to rise steadily, which now is capable to produce 500,000 tons annually.

¡¡¡¡The chairman also acknowledged two other major rubber producersnamely India (650,000 tons) and China (500,000 tons). However, he said "both countries do not affect the world rubber markets, as their overall outputs have been absorbed by domestic markets."

¡¡¡¡Gapkindo expects that the world rubber price will rise gradually, saying that a sharp hike will hurt consumers and possibly harm producer countries in the future.

¡¡¡¡It was also learnt that Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia will establish next week the International Tripartite Rubber Company, in a bid to lift the price of rubber. Enditem

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