the main culprit lies on ourselves, more specifically, the trade bodies overseeing rubber/palm oil. Too senang syiok sendiri keep thinking that petik straight from the tree with minimal processing, then get money.

Didn't think further into the future and invest in R&D to develop better uses/better processes. Take for example, if really manage to find an innovative way to drastically improve the durability of rubber and flexibility of moulding it, with the resurgence of environmental sustainability awareness, rubber based plastic could've made a huge comeback precisely because it is from sustainable sources.

Same also for palm oil. No reason that south america use sugar cane to derive ethanol, when palm oil can produce much more volume of biodiesel per hectar of land. If go back 20 years, if MARDI really do their diligent job of R&D, who knows malaysia is the hub for biofuel from palm oil, instead of now merely for cooking and some consumer product stabalisation additives. Only recent 2 years that there is promotion of the benefits of plam based tocotrienols. Kind of too late as the perception of palm plantation is already ruined by the western counterparts.

IF see the list of benefits, almost superfood category :
https://www.excelvite.com/benefits-palm-toc...ase-management/

This post has been edited by wkc5657: Oct 22 2019, 04:53 PM

now here's the dilemma of giving some to win a lot. Frankly, on the grander scale of things, western more industrious companies mainly use asia more as a cheaper hub for secondary processing. The really good high margin high tech stuffs almost never reaches our shores, mainly :
1) don't have the capability (fair enough)
2) can't trust the local laws in protecting IP (fair enough, but i think some technology transfers should be given, or else we always at the losing end, can never be at the leg up)
3) mainly want to earn more money for their HQ by taking advantage of our lower cost of operations, and establishing a local market presence

For the automotive segment in thailand, did thailand really win a lot, assembly job wise, yes, damn a lot. By capability wise, i don't think so, even now they can't develop their own capability of making their own cars despite having a lot of experience assembling cars.

Vinfast in vietnam on the hand, saw the handicap using this method, instead buy IP first from BMW, try it out and begin the process of their own car building journey. But these pointers are my opinions based purely on my observation, no insider knowledge.

In the end, the best way for local industry to punch above their weight is to find and cultivate a unique niche. This is where the real money lies and this is where it will bring the overall industry forward by supporting this niche. As the niche advances, so does the supporting industry around the niche.

This post has been edited by wkc5657: Oct 22 2019, 05:22 PM