Mr. Jom Jacob
Senior Economist, Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries, Malaysia

Jom Jacob serves the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) since July 2007 as Senior Economist, a position next to the Secretary-General. Before joining the ANRPC he was heading the Planning Division of the Rubber Board of India. He has more than 22 years of experience in the rubber industry, holding various positions in the Rubber Board of India dealing with statistics, formulation and monitoring of development schemes for the rubber industry, export-import policy analysis, market analysis and global rubber industry analysis. He has authored more than 30 publications and working papers.

Dr. R. K. Matthan
R&D and Technology Adviser, Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association, India

Dr R.K. Matthan is currently the R&D and Technology Adviser for the Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association, Managing Director for Polymer Consultancy Services and is the Technology Adviser and/or board member of a few other corporations. He was part of the team tasked with the development of Natural Rubber and rubber based industries in manufacturing in South Asia and also introduced the Technically Specified Natural Rubber into India. In the field of Nano Technology, he is coordinating the IRMRA R&D program to develop, evaluate and introduce nano composite NR and SR. He is adviser to a few leading national and international companies and research bodies and also a member of the governing council of All India Rubber Industries Association, Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association, Indian Rubber Institute and R&D Committee member of Rubber Research Institute of India. He was awarded the K.M.Philip Biennial Gold Medal and Award 2005-06 for his outstanding contributions to the development of the rubber industry and HR development through education and training in India. He has presented over 30 papers at international conferences and published over 50 papers on NR and SMR, Latex, Thermoplastic NR and its related subjects.

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. John McClure
Research Economist, LMC International Ltd, United Kingdom

John McClure joined LMC's Rubber and Tyre Research Team in 2000. As well as working on LMC's regular publications on rubber and tires, Mr. McClure has had a leading role in a wide range of single client and multi-client projects covering wide aspects of the markets for natural and synthetic rubber as well as the tire sector.

Mr. Ju Hongzhen
Chairman, China Rubber Industry Association, Republic of China

Ju Hongzhen is Chairman of China Rubber Industry Association since 2000. He is involved in the various aspects of China's rubber industry status, development, economic operation, technological progress, foreign trade, industrial policies and macro-control. Prior to this, he served for the Rubber Department in Ministry of Chemical Industry of China, involved in rubber industry development plan & industrial policies formulation, industrial economy operation and technological advances management. He then joined China United Rubber (Group) Corporation before taking his current position.

Mr. R. V. Gandhi
Managing Director, Gujarat Reclaim & Rubber Products Ltd., India

R. V. Gandhi is the Managing Director of Gujarat Reclaim & Rubber Products Ltd. The Company is the first in India to design, fabricate and install entire plant and machinery for the manufacture of Reclaim Rubber with complete indigenous components. He is a member of the Managing Committee of All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA). It was at his initiative that AIRIA has instituted the prestigious K.M. Philip Gold Medal Award for individuals who have contributed to the growth of the Indian Rubber Industry. Mr. Gandhi is also a co-opted member of the Governing Council of Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association.

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

Sajen Peter is the Chairman of the Rubber Board of India under the purview of India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Prior to this, he had served for the Government of India in various capacities in diverse agencies such as Board of Revenue and Tourism Development Corporation. Before his appointment as the Chairman of the Rubber Board of India, he was the Secretary to the Government consecutively starting with Agriculture before moving on to Revenue, Taxes and finally General Education.

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.

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.

Dr. Uzoma N. Okwu
Director, End-Use Department, , Nigeria

Dr. U.N.Okwu was born on 19th February, 1953 in Nigeria. He holds a bachelors degree (1978) in Chemistry from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Diploma of Associateship (1982) in Rubber Technology from the National College of Rubber Technology, the Polytechnic of North London. He obtained Masters degree (1983) in Polymer Technology from the Loughborough University of Technology in the UK and was awarded PhD in Chemistry in 1998 at the University of Benin, Nigeria.

The speaker had a stint with University teaching (1984 – 1998) before joining the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria in 1999 as Chief Research Officer. Dr. Okwu is currently the Director and Head of Rubber Technology Department at the Institute. He is also the National Coordinator of the rubber quality scheme in Nigeria. He has a number of journal articles to his credit. Dr. Okwu is married with three children. Hobbies include picnicking as well as watching cricket and soccer matches.

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.

Ms. Sekar Woelan
Research Analyst, Indonesia Rubber Research Institute, Indonesia

Sekar Woelan has spent over 22 years in Sungei Putih Research Center and had also undergone training programs on plant breeding and genetics at other research institutes. She was involved in a few technology innovation of latex and timber clones in Indonesia in the last five years. She had also authored various publications and working papers on cloning and genetic recombination.

Mr. Chan Weng Hoong
Principal Research Officer, Advanced Agri-Ecological Research, Malaysia

Chan Weng Hoong is the Agronomic Advisor for Applied Agricultural Resources, Malaysia. He retired from the company in 2004 as Principal Research officer and Head of Oil Palm and Rubber Agronomy Divisions and is currently on job extension. His main research interest is in rubber especially on exploitation and clonal evaluation, having worked on the crop for 35 years. Current research projects are on the exploitation of rubber using short cuts and clonal evaluation of RRIM 2000 series clones and Prang Besar clones. He has presented or published 38 papers on rubber at national and international conferences.

Mr. Sang Udomjarumani
Chief Executive Officer, International Rubber Consortium Limited, Thailand

Sang Udomjarumani is the Chief Executive Officer of International Rubber Consortium Limited (IRCo). He is also the Permanent Honorary President of the Thai Rubber Association, Advisor and Director of the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand and Director of Thailand’s Rubber Supervisory Board. 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.

Mr. Daryl Guppy
Director, Guppytraders.com, Australia

Daryl Guppy is founder and Director of Guppytraders.com Pty Ltd headquartered in Darwin, Australia. He is an internationally renowned author, financial trader and trainer who uses technical analysis and charts to understand the market and to explore trading opportunities. He conducts training on trading strategies and technical analysis to professional traders. He is an active private trader in securities and associated derivatives. Guppytraders.com has joint ventures with NextView in Singapore and Pristine in America.

Mr. Fuminori Kondo
Manager of Market Department, Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Japan

Fuminori Kondo is the Manager of the Market Planning Section within the Market Department of The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), Japan’s largest commodity exchange. He is responsible for improving the efficiency of market design, introduction and revision, in order to enhance TOCOM’s futures market as an essential part of the industrial infrastructure.