The International Rubber Association (IRA) was inaugurated in Ottawa, Canada on 24 September 1971 through the cooperation of rubber associations in both producing and consuming countries. Currently, IRA consists of 20 members from 13 countries. The Thai Rubber Association is one of the initial members and a member of the Management Committee. With the term of 2 years, IRA is led by 8 Management Committee members, 4 of which are member associations from producing countries while the other 4 are those from consuming countries. The objectives of IRA are to formulate rubber trade practices, to prepare international rubber contracts, to foster international cooperation on rubber production, trade, and consumption among producing and consuming countries, to collectively solve any problems in connection with international rubber trade as well as to facilitate continuous improvement in the international rubber trade.

The International Rubber Association (IRA) is internationally recognized for its significant role in the global rubber trade community. The Thai Rubber Association has continuously joined as a member of the Management Committee and plays an important role in developing the International Rubber Association to be recognized internationally. IRA arranges the Management Committee meeting once a year, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there is no physical meeting in 2021. However, there are important matters to consider via electronic system as follow: 1) the approval of Myanmar Natural Rubber Quality Testing Laboratory (MNRQTL), which has been already approved by the IRA Management Committee members, and 2) the election of the IRA chairmanship for the term 2021-2023 due to the GAPKINDO (Rubber Association of Indonesia) as Chairperson period of 2019-2021 has terminated in February 2021. The IRA Management Committee members agreed on the Thai Rubber Association to resume the IRA chairmanship for the term 2021-2023. Meanwhile, TRA Management Committee has agreed on the TRA President to resume the IRA chairman.

On behalf of the Thai Rubber Association, I am honored and grateful that TRA has been entrusted to serve as the chairmanship of the International Rubber Association (IRA) for the term 2021-2023, and I wish to thank Mr. Moenardji Soedargo, the president of the GAPKINDO (Rubber Association of Indonesia), for the excellent management of the IRA during the past few years. I hope that IRA will always be an important part of the cooperation between producing and consuming countries to continually develop the global rubber industry with sustainability.

Mr.Chaiyos Sincharoenkul

President

The Thai Rubber Association