Dr. Linda Stevenson
Scientific Officer, The Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, Japan

Dr. Linda Anne Stevenson is the Scientific Officer for the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, Japan. Dr. Stevenson’s main interests are education and training for sustainable development and science-policy inter-linkages for informed decision-making. She joined APN in 2002 and manages its scientific activities as well as the science and policy agendas. Dr. Stevenson is working closely with UNFCCC & GEOSS for policy outputs and open access to scientific data, respectively. She had previously worked as a QA Engineer for numerous clients including British Nuclear Fuels, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Corporation, and for four years as a technical and scientific writer at Kobe University and National Panasonic.

Dr. Linkham Douangsavanh
Director, NAFRI, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR

Dr. Linkham Douangsavanh currently holds the position of Director of Agriculture and Forestry Policy Research Center at the National Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute of Lao PDR. Over the span of his career Dr. Douangsavanh has published many papers; his recent published research works focused on Lao PDR and included work on indigenous knowledge and soil classification, alternative land-use and cropping scenarios, utilizing agriculture and forestry for improving livelihoods, poverty reduction and sustainable farming.

Mrs. Manivone Viravong
President, Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Laos

Mrs. Manivone Viravong is the President of Lao Tree Plantation and Cash Crops Business Owners Association, and also the President of Manivone Industrial Trees Plantation Development Company. She had served the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for 11 years and various foreign agencies such as Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) and GTZ of Germany as Consultants for 3 years. Her last posting was at Asian Development Bank as a Credit Specialist. She is an agricultural economist by training and has graduated from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Dr. Prachaya Jumpasut
Managing Director, Rubber Economist Ltd, United Kingdom

Dr. Prachaya Jumpasut is the Managing Director and a founding member of the Rubber Economist Ltd, a consultancy firm based in London and Bangkok. Previously he has served for 26 years at the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) in various capacities ending his time as the Head of Economics and Statistics. During his tenure at the IRSG, he has written extensively on a broad range of topics and has presented extensively at various international conferences.

Dr. John Baffes
Senior Economist, Development Prospects Group, World Bank, United States of America

John Baffes is the Senior Agriculture Economist with the Development Prospects Group of the World Bank, USA. His responsibilities include commodity market monitoring and price projections for agricultural commodities as well as research on market structure and policy reform issues both in developing and OECD countries. He has published over 30 articles in various academic journals and numerous chapters in books and other reports in the areas of economic development and agricultural economics. He currently manages the World Bank's report on commodities, Global Commodity Markets.

Mr. Daryl Guppy
Director, Guppytraders.com, Australia

Daryl Guppy is founder and Director of Guppytraders.com Pty Ltd. Daryl is a regular CNBCAsia Squawk Box technical analyst commentator and has a weekly CNBC.com column - Charting Asia. He is the author of The 36 Strategies of The Chinese for Financial Traders, Trend Trading and seven other trading books as well as a regular contributor for various financial magazines and media globally. He has also developed several leading technical indicators which are included in many charting programs.

Dr. Abdul Aziz S.A. Kadir
Secretary-General, International Rubber Research Development Board, Malaysia

Dr Abdul Aziz S.A. Kadir is the Secretary-General of International Rubber Research Development Board. He has spent more than 35 years in the Natural Rubber industry, having served the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia in different capacities including 12 years as its Director before being appointed as the first Director-General of the Malaysian Rubber Board. In 2001, he was appointed as to his current position in IRRDB, an association of rubber research institutes from 20 Natural Rubber producing countries. The objectives of the organization include fostering cooperation in Natural Rubber R&D, providing a forum for concerted action on matters of mutual interest and arranging training programs for the scientists.

Dr. Yeang Hoong Yeet
Former Head of Biotechnology and Strategic Research, Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, Fellow of the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia

Dr Yeang Hoong Yeet was with the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) for 33 years. He holds the position as Head of the Biotechnology and Strategic Research Unit since 1990 until his retirement from the institute in 2006. At the RRIM, Dr Yeang headed research in the areas of plant physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, molecular biology and tissue culture related to the rubber tree. He was active in the research on genetic transformation of the rubber tree and led the RRIM team that successfully developed the first genetically modified (transgenic) rubber tree in the world. He was especially interested in the production of pharmaceutical proteins that could be harvested in the latex. Dr Yeang has authored and co-authored over 200 research publications, including 80 peer-reviewed papers in international scientific journals.

Mr. Philippe Delhaise
Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Management Consulting, Hong Kong

Philippe Delhaise is the CEO of the Carbon Management Consulting Group (CMC), one of the world’s leading independent providers of consulting services for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol. CMC has so far analyzed over 300 projects in over 20 countries, and has retained around 100 of them in its portfolio, for preparation and submission as CDM projects under the Protocol. He is also a specialist in cross-border financial risk in emerging markets. Besides lecturing at universities in Europe and Asia, Philippe Delhaise is a frequent speaker at international conferences and he wrote a number of articles on financial risk in Asia as well as an acclaimed book on the Asian financial crisis of 1997, “Asia in Crisis – The Implosion of the Banking and Finance systems”. Prior to devoting his efforts to sustainable development in 2003, he had a long career in finance and consulting.

Dr. S. Sivakumaran
Executive Director, Research and Development, Greenyield Bhd, Malaysia

Dr.S.Sivakumaran is currently the R & D Director for Greenyield Bhd. He is currently involved under Greenyield in promoting and implementing the RRIMFLOW system of exploitation designed to boost yield productivity in rubber trees in several NR producing countries. He retired from the services of the Malaysian Rubber Board in 2000 after completing thirty years of service in various capacities with the last position as Director of Production Research & Development. He has, over the span of his career, published more than eighty technical papers in journals, bulletins and conference proceedings.

Mr. Sajen Peter
Chairman, Rubber Board of India, India

Sajen Peter is the Chairman of the Rubber Board of India, a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry of the Government of India. He was formerly Secretary to the Government of Kerala consecutively starting with Agriculture before moving on to Revenue, Taxes and finally General Education. He had also held senior positions in the Revenue Department and other public sector organisations in Kerala.

Dr. Asoka Nugawela
Director, Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka

Dr. A. Nugawela is the Director of the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka. He has served in various capacities in the organisation since 1980 and has contributed much towards the technology development and development activities in Sri Lanka and abroad.He was also consulted among others for the SRRP II Project in Sri Lanka and for the Integrated Rural Development in Ghana. His research/work has been published in more than 130 publications locally and internationally.

Prof. Dr. Djoko Said Damardjati
Secretary General, Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries, Malaysia

Prof. Dr. Djoko Said Damardjati is the Secretary-General of the ANRPC for a three-year term beginning July 2008. Before holding the post, he was with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of Indonesia, as Director-General of Processing & Marketing of Agricultural Products. Together with that responsibility, he was also serving the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development as Professor (Research) and Senior Principal Scientist on Food Science & Technology. Dr. Djoko had headed a long list of government bodies in the Indonesian agricultural sector and he has to his credit more than 50 research publications and two published books.

Dr. Stuart Cook
Director of Research, Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre, United Kingdom

Dr. Stuart Cook is the Director of Research at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in the UK. Dr. Cook's main areas of research expertise are in the chemical modification of rubbery materials, speciality rubber blends and rubber/thermoplastic blends and in the development of improved filled rubber materials. He has had more than 50 papers, patents and other articles published and presented.

Mr. Fan Rende
President, China Rubber Industry Association, China

Mr. Fan Rende is the Chairman of China Rubber Industry Association. He has been involved in the rubber industry services for more than forty years, and has a good knowledge and comprehensive understanding on China rubber industry status, development, economic operation, technological progress, foreign trade, industrial policies and macro-control. He served for Rubber Department of China Chemical Industry Ministry during the early part of his career before becoming the vice president of China United Rubber Group and subsequently the Vice Chairman and Secretary General of China Rubber Industry Association prior to assuming his current position.

Mr. Sang Udomjarumani
Honorary Advisor, Rubber Latex Corporation Public Company Ltd, Thailand

Mr Udomjarumani has been the Honorary Advisor of the Thai Rubber Latex Corporation Public Company Ltd, Thailand since July 2008. He is also the Permanent Honorary President of the Thai Rubber Association, Advisor and Director of the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand, Director of Thailand’s Rubber Supervisory Board and was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of International Rubber Consortium Limited (IRCo). He has been long involved in the rubber industry in Thailand and the international stage, having served multiple terms as the as President of the Thai Rubber Association and was also the Chairman of the International Rubber Association from 2002-2005.

Dr. Mohd Akbar Md. Said
Deputy Director General, Malaysian Rubber Board, Malaysia

Dr. Mohd Akbar Md. Said is the Deputy Director General of the Malaysian Rubber Board. His field of specialization is in plant physiology, latex harvesting technology and the transfer of technology. Throughout his career, he has been credited with a number of publications, involved in consultancy works and research projects related to optimising smallholder rubber production through tapping innovations. He has also received a few invention and innovation awards and honours for his contribution towards the industry.

Mr. Le Quang Thung
Chairman, Vietnam Rubber Association, SR of Vietnam

Le Quang Thung is the Chairman of the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA) for the period 2005 till 2008. VRA is a voluntary organization established in 2004 and a legal entity which represents enterprises and organizations relating to the Vietnam rubber industry. VRA’s objectives are to assist and coordinate its members’ activities, protect their legal rights and promoting the sustainable development of the rubber industry. He is also the Director General of the Vietnam Rubber Group which was the former Vietnam General Rubber Corporation and is the biggest rubber enterprise in Vietnam.

Mr. Gu Zhongguo
Director of Delivery Department, Shanghai Futures Exchange, China

Gu Zhongguo, graduated from Fu Dan University in Year 1994, master degree, long-term commitment to the research of rubber in both physical and derivatives market in China. Currently, he is director of Chemical and Energy department and supervisor of the oil futures working group.