ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING(UB00402)SESSION 2012/2013

MAIN TITLE THE COMMERCIALISATION OF THE HERBAL INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA

LECTURER : MR. JOHN MARK STROREY

NAMEMATRIX NUMBER

ALVIN TUNG KWONG CHOONGBK12110017

CHIA CHU WEOBK12110048

TAI YAO HWEEBK12110352

YU WEI CHETBK12110387

INTRODUCTIONOur aim is to seek knowledge to improve herbal industry in Malaysia. Malaysia should commercialise herbal products is because there are varieties of natural herbs which are not yet fully exploited. There are about 2,000 species of herbs in Malaysias tropical rainforest but only about one percent is being commercialised. (Hairuddin Md Bakri).Hence, Malaysia is the ideal country for commercialisation of herbal products. Herbal industry should be improve due to several factors. The factors includes lack of efforts towards Research and Development(R&D), lack of talents and well-trained work force who can define and devise strategies, infrastructure capable of main-training biotechnological research and development, lack advance in harvesting technologies. There are several R&D have been done in some universities but the results havent used for commercialisation. Besides, too few herbal products have been commercialised because only several herbs focused by Malaysia. These problems should be solve immediately to improve the commercialisation of herbal products. In order to further research into local herbal industry, we have divide ourselves into 4 individual topics. As a result , some recommendations (in summary) towards these problems have been suggest by us through this handout and further explanation will be done in each individual report . Individual Topic 1 : Research and Development (R&D) as a way to commercialise the herbal industry in Malaysia.Individual Topic 2 : Governments Policies as a way to commercialise the herbal industry in Malaysia.Individual Topic 3 : Publicity as a way to commercialise the herbal industry in Malaysia. Individual Topic 4 : The role of advertising and marketing in the commercialisation of herbal products in Malaysia .

SUMMARY Research and Development (R&D) is one of the way to fix the challenges face by local herbal industry. Biotechnology development, discover and develop varieties of herbal products and improving harvesting technologies are necessary to build up our research community and ensure our country herbal industry to have ability to process herb materials to higher value products from low cost production of the herb materials. Furthermore, governments policies should be giving incentives, personnel training and offer scholarship to local or oversea university. Commercialisation of herbal products especially R&D require a lot of money & resources, not only natural resources but also human resources. In addition, helpful and knowledgeable employees, good quality of products keep the loyalty of customers. Besides, offer tax free for the companies to increase export in herbal products.Creative advertising methods which are different from the past will be easy for everyone to be impressed. A creative packing design can attract consumer attention and influence consumer buying decision because consumer amazed by the creative packaging design. Impressive images of herbal products through professional techniques to make video can be presented to public and strengthens the desire of people towards our local herbal products. Advertising a product by using endorsement of celebrity because celebrity will influence consumers perception and credibility of a products.Lastly,a well-defined target market is also important because it is much affordable, efficient, and effective way to promote a products. Implement some marketing which means to satisfy customers needs also necessary to improve commercialization of herbal industry.

CONCLUSIONHerbs should be commercialized in a wider scale due to their perceived value. Efforts toward this goal are to be realized by encouraging herbal usage in daily life of local communities. This in turn will cause herbal sector in Malaysia to develop and generate job opportunity and boost up the economy. Many consumers believe that herbs are one of natures gifts and can be safely utilized. This is the reason why herbs have become accepted by local communities and current trending is inclined to better and healthier lifestyles based on the use of natural products, including herbs and herbal derivatives. Commercialization in herbs will also generate economic benefits which will attract further investment and industries exploiting herb from local and foreign.However, a number of actions are considered important for improving and enhancing the development of herbal industry in Malaysia. First, a sufficient mass of cultivable land need is needed in order to ensure the consistent supply of herbs to herbal industry. This can be done by promoting farmer cooperation at village or regional level to make sure an ample mass of cultivable for herbs. Furthermore, country authorities should develop effective strategies to support improved cultivation, quality control systems, provision of high quality planting materials, and the encouragement of investment in new innovative ways.Lastly, government and herbal industrys developer should accept and concern a more in-depth global overview of the demand and supply of medical herbal products to clarify market issues, and consider more effective solutions. Because many of the issues require global and market-specific analysis because of the differing market condition, materials and products being focused on, and approaches used. Moreover, case studies of successful marketing approaches being used may assist other countries.

APPENDIXAbu Kasim, Z. A. (2007) Herbal biotechnology development- The way forward & market access opportunities. Ann Anton, Vijay Kumar, Michael Wong.(2007) Biotechnology Technical Report. Sabah. Universiti Malaysia Sabah(UMS).Ballick, MJ. & Cox, P.A. 1997. Ethnobotanical research and traditional health care in developing countries. In: Medical Plants for Forest Conservation and Health Care. Non-wood Forest Products 11. pp. 12-23. Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations, Rome.Blumenthal, M.Brinkman, J. & Goldberg, A. 2000. Herbal Medicine. Expanded Commission E Monographs, American Botanical Council, Austin, Texas.Defination Of R&D . http://www.investorwords.com/4028/RD.html (visited on 3 April 2013)Ghazally Ismail(Editor) (1997) Bioresource Utilization: The Bioechnology Option For Malaysia. Selangor. Pelanduk Pubilcations (M) Sdn. Bhd.Global Information Hub On Integrated Medicine (Globinmed) http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56:consumption-of-medicinal-plants-in-malaysia&Itemid=179 (visited on 20 April 2013)National Center Of Complementary and Alternative Medicine(NCCAM) http://nccam.nih.gov/health/aloevera (visited on 20 April 2013)Salleh, M.N. (1998). The forest can cure all ills: Myth or Reality. In Proceeding of the seminar Medical Plants: Cure for the 21th Century. Pp. 1-6. Nair, M.N.B & Ganapathi, N.(Eds.). University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, 15-16 Octerber,1998.