The ASEAN Rubber Business Council, formerly known as the ASEAN Rubber Business Club was founded on 23 October 1992 in Jakarta, Indonesia under the sponsorship of four natural rubber producing and trading nations in the ASEAN region, namely Rubber Association of Indonesia (GAPKINDO); the Malaysian Rubber Exchange (MRE); the Rubber Trade Association of Singapore (RTAS); and the Thai Rubber Association (TRA) in order to exchange market information, to consult and discuss common trade practices. Headquartered in Malaysia, ARBC currently comprises of 6 member countries, viz. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam - the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA) and Cambodia - the Association for Rubber Development of Cambodia (ARDC). The objectives of ARBC are as follows: to establish a forum for members to freely and frankly exchange views on matters of mutual interest; to establish closer rapport through exchanges of market information, trade visits, organizing of seminars and marketing forum to broaden the outlook and enhance the professionalism of members; to consult and discuss common trade practices and problems with a view to reach consensus and eventually influence the respective governments to make the necessary policy and strategy adjustments for the common good of the members; to monitor the progress and development of the natural rubber industry in member countries, to foster closer co-ordination, co-operation and goodwill amongst member organizations; to maintain an Executive Committee within the Council to decide on administrative and financial matters; to maintain an Economics and Statistics Committee to be responsible for trade matters and the collection, analysis and dissemination of market information and statistics.

The ASEAN Rubber Business Council is internationally recognized in rubber trade. The Council shall organize meetings at least twice a year. For the latest round of ARBC meeting, the Malaysian Rubber Exchange served as a host organization of the 20th Assembly of the ASEAN Rubber Business Council on 11 October 2014 at Equatorial Hotel, Melaka, Malaysia preceded by MRE Annual Dinner on 10 October 2014. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Rusdan Dalimunthe, Executive Director of GAPKINDO and attended by representatives from the Malaysian Rubber Exchange (MRE); the Rubber Trade Association of Singapore (RTAS); and the Thai Rubber Association (TRA) and the Association for Rubber Development of Cambodia (ARDC) and the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA). The delegation of TRA was led by Mr. Supadetch Ongsakul, Deputy Secretary General together with Ms. Piyaporn Saelim, Manager and executive officers.

The 20th ARBC Assembly meeting came out with these important matters:
1. TRA’s proposal to prepare new RSS samples according to specifications in the Green Book with reference to RSS master samples 1968 possessed by MRE and to propose to IRA;
2. Invitation to 4 ASEAN countries, namely Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Brunei to join ARBC;
3. Strong cooperation among ARBC members not to offer NR price at below 1.5 US$ per kilogram as appealed by GAPKINDO;
4. Appointment of MRE’s Chairman to assume the Chairmanship of ARBC for the term 2015-2016 as GAPKINDO has already served as the Chairmanship of the Council for a term of two years;
5. Next ARBC’s assembly to be held on 9 May 2015 hosted by TRA preceded by TRA Annual Dinner on 8 May 2015 at Centara Grand at CentralWorld, Bangkok.

From the above data, it is clear that ARBC plays a significant role in establishing close rapport among rubber producing countries and it is an important part in the development of global rubber industry in the long term.