BANGKOK: The Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) wants member countries of the International Tripartite Rubber Council of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia to come to an agreement on fixing the price of the commodity.

       Risda chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Sharif said rubber smallholders want the see the price of rubber continue to rise like other commodities so that they would have more income.

       “It is our hope that world rubber producers like us come together and discuss the floor price of rubber so that we can control the supply and hence help increase the income of smallholders,” he told reporters here.

       Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in meeting his Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan-o-cha during his official visit to the country last Friday, raised the idea of controlling the supply of rubber among the member countries so that it benefits them as well as rubber smallholders.

       Mohd Salim welcomed the suggestion, saying the meeting between the two prime ministers has opened a new opportunity for rubber smallholders in the country to control the price and supply of the commodity. — Bernama