Government urged to open upstream chemical industry<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A chemical industry executive asked the
\ngovernment yesterday to open the industry's upstream sector to
\nmore competition to boost the downstream sector's development.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) chemical
\nindustry division chairman Azis Pane said downstream chemical
\nindustries were developing slowly because upstream industries did
\nnot give enough support.<\/p>\n
He was speaking after meeting Minister of Industry and Trade
\nTunky Ariwibowo yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"If the downstream industries can grow at 20 percent a year,
\nit is already very good,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Central Bureau of Statistics figures show Indonesia had 2,276
\nchemical companies in 1994. The chemical industry grew by 1.18
\npercent a year during the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan which
\nended in 1994.<\/p>\n
Azis said Indonesia had to be more outward-looking because
\nglobal free trade and investment gave it no choice.<\/p>\n
Tranparency<\/p>\n
He said there were only 13 foreign investors in the chemical
\nindustry because of the government's \"lack of transparency\".<\/p>\n
Azis was referring to the government's ambiguous policy toward
\nthe industry.<\/p>\n
In February last year the government gave the politically
\nwell-connected PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Center permanent
\ntariff protection.<\/p>\n
Previously the firm's ethylene and propylene were temporarily
\nprotected by a 20 percent import surcharge on top of the 5
\npercent import tariff on both olefin products.<\/p>\n
Deregulation measures issued in June planned to reduce
\ngradually import tariffs on ethylene and propylene from 25
\npercent to a maximum of 10 percent by 2003.<\/p>\n
Azis said the government should open the upstream industry and
\nallow foreign investors into the market.<\/p>\n
\"The downstream sector can actually develop quite well. It is
\nthe upstream sector which is often subject to a bottleneck,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Azis said KADIN planned to hold an international business
\nforum for the chemical industry in Bali in September.<\/p>\n
\"We expect this forum to be attended by some 600 major players
\nof the industry from around the world. We would like them to get
\na firsthand look at the situation of Indonesia's chemical
\nindustry, market and business climate,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Azis said he expected foreign investors to play a bigger role
\nin the agrochemical industry in particular.<\/p>\n
\"The minister fully supports us,\" he said. (pwn)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-urged-to-open-upstream-chemical-industry-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }