Upgrading Malaysia’s Rubber Manufacturing: Trajectories and Challenges

The rapid economic growth of Malaysia has often been attributed to FDI-led EOI, and the country’s economy shows nearly high income status. It is important to add, however, that natural resource-based industry had also contributed significantly to the growth of Malaysia. This chapter examines the expansion and transformation of the rubber industry in Malaysia, focusing on the rubber glove firms as successful niche-oriented actors. Rubber has played an important role in the global economy and automotive society since the beginning of the twentieth century. Since the late 1980s, Thailand and Indonesia have overtaken Malaysia as the top natural rubber producers. From the late twentieth century, however, the awareness of the risks of HIV/AIDS, SARS, and avian influenza has raised the demand for medical rubber gloves. Taking advantage of the technology developed by government R&D institutions, Malaysia’s local venture rubber glove firms achieved the technological upgrading quickly and seized the opportunities created by escalating global demand. To maintain the sustainable development of natural resource-based industry, it will be crucial to create and improve close public–private relationships.