Local Herbal Market To Hit RM8 Bln By 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- The local herbal market, currently worth RM3.8 billion, is expected to expand to RM8 billion by 2010 with an annual growth rate of between 15 and 20 per cent, Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk S. Sothinathan said Tuesday.
He said according to a World Bank report, the international herbal medicine market was expected to be worth US$5 trillion (RM19 trillion) in 2050 with a growth rate of between 10 and 20 per cent a year.
As such, researchers, academicians and industry operators must grab the opportunity by stepping up their research and development activities to produce new medicines and market them worldwide, he added.
He was officiating a seminar on medicinal and aromatic plants themed "Plants, Humans and Health - Then, Now and the Future", organised by the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia in Kepong.
Sothinathan said herbal-based medicinal products had huge growth potential due to strong domestic and overseas demand as well as their diverse applications. Out of the 25,000 species of plants, 1,230 species had been scientifically proven to have medicinal qualities.
He said the government had identified medicinal plants as huge potential assets to generate economic growth for the country.
"They have the capability to contribute directly towards strengthening the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, and the herbal industry balances the development between urban and rural areas as well as eradicates poverty and restructures communities," he added.
The two-day seminar, attended by researchers, academicians and herbal industry operators, among others, discussed issues related to the origin of medicinal plants, their conservation, cultivation, research and development, business opportunities, quality control, and related legislation.