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→Malaysia
=== Malaysia ===
=== The Philippines===
=== Thailand===
=== Cambodia===
=== Vietnam===
the following aspects of Hevea brasiliensis:
In the other countries, research is being done, mostly on ''Hevea brasiliensis''. In Laos, provenance trials aimed at identifying superior resin-yielding trees of ''Styrax tonkinensis '' and tapping trials aimed at optimizing harvesting methods, established in 1997 with FAO assistance, are continuing to be monitored and evaluated with EU support.
It has already been pointed out that in the last 100 years the use of many of the species that were once important sources of resins, latexes and gums in South-East Asia has declined. Most of the decline is attributable to the availability of cheaper, technically superior synthetic alternatives. The production of synthetics is not constrained by the vagaries of the weather or the uncertain productivity of the natural resource. The quality, too, is more consistent and can be varied at will according to the requirements of the end-user. However, it would be wrong to be over-pessimistic about future prospects; there is some cause for optimism. The two most important exudates (rubber and pine resin) continue to be produced from natural sources and this will remain so for the foreseeable future. Other exudates such as copal, damar and benzoin, retain substantial markets and the fact that several major projects involving them have been undertaken in the region in recent years demonstrates the importance that is attached to them by governments and international organizations. For those exudates (such as gum arabic and the chewing-"gums") which have a food or pharmaceutical use, the "naturalness" of the natural material is a powerful selling point.
Rubber is a very large export commodity for Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and its prospects are promising: demand is expected to rise. Moreover, the added revenues from rubberwood will strengthen the economic viability of rubber cultivation. Demand for gum turpentine and rosin, the primary products of crude pine resin, is also buoyant, although it is influenced by factors other than those related to the use of synthetics, namely the availability of supplies from China (the leading producer of gum naval stores) and the supply of sulphate turpentine and tall oil rosin as by-products from pulping (sulphate naval stores). Demand and economic circumstances permitting, Indonesia has the potential to increase its production of turpentine and rosin if it chooses to tap larger numbers of pine trees.
With the exception of rubber, the exudates produced in agroforestry systems are of minor importance to the national economies in South-East Asia, but in some areas they are very important to the local communities. In recent decades the price fluctuations of exudates produced in agroforestry systems such as damar and benzoin gardens have had direct influence on the intensity of exudate collection. When exudates command low prices or are temporarily not traded at all due to periods of political unrest or war, farmers shift their attention to other components of their gardens, such as fruit trees. It is precisely this flexibility that sustains the production system from which exudates can be collected.
