Awesome Potential of Herbal Products

The Government, seeking to diversify to our sources of revenue, intends to fully exploit our biodiversity by encouraging the export of more herbal products. According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture Datuk Mohammed Shariff Omar, herbs are huge money-spinners. Herbal products are expected to rake in RM3.8 billion in revenues this year, up from RM2 billion five years ago. Judging by the rate at which this niche market is growing, revenues should be on par with that of palm oil by the year 2005. That’s nothing to sneeze at, given the fact that it’s a brand new industry with huge potential. For instance, the World Bank estimates that the global market is set for an explosion – soaring from the current annual value of RM320 billion to reach RM20 trillion by 2050.

This isn’t hard to understand, given the current global fixation on any health product remotely linked with "natural" or "herbal". It’s feeding frenzy on herbal products out there – with the main markets being North America, China and Japan – and we have the enormous advantage to having the right climate and dynamic manufacturers who are quick to capatalise on this.

This return to folksy remedies coincides with the increasing global awareness of the fragility of ecosystems and the need to protect natural sources of pharmaceutical applications – namely our forests.

For an industry that could earn us up to RM8 billion annually by the year 2005, it pays to have a superior research and development programme.

In research and development, it’s important not to be swayed by traditional hype.

Sales of herbal products have been skyrocketing because of an inordinate media focus on alternative therapies. It’s trendier to sip on tea brewed from leaves of a remote mountain shrub, than say, to pop a whimsically-hued pill.

Herbal products may work because of the pharmacological properties of their active ingredients. However, herbs may contain many different ingredients and it may be difficult to determine the exact composition and also which ingredients are responsible for any observed effects.

We are blessed with forests groaning with a wide array of herbs; the pharmaceutical applications of many remain unknown. We have only scratched the surface. Fully capitalizing on this niche industry gives us the best of both worlds – opening wallets and healing ailments.