Chemical industry has bright future: Kalla

SANUR, Bali (JP): Minister of Industry and Trade Yusuf Kalla said on Wednesday the future of the chemical industry remained bullish despite the closure of some chemical-based companies in the last two years.

Speaking at the opening of the 29th ASEAN Chemical Industries Conference, the minister said with abundant sources of raw materials and huge market potentials, the local chemical industry still had bright prospects.

"Nearly every type of raw material for chemical products, such as crude oil, natural gas, coal, copper, palm oil and rubber, is found in the country," he said in his speech.

Some 80 representatives of chemical-based companies from Southeast Asia, Germany, Belgium, the United States, Britain, Japan and China are taking part in the meeting, which ends today.

The executives are slated to join the AESAN Plus Regional Seminar at the Chemical Weapons Convention in the same venue on Friday.

Zaenal Soedjais, the chairman of the conference, said the agenda included discussions on the problems and prospects for the region's chemical industry in the new millennium.

"We hope the conference will also produce some recommendations to solve the problems currently being faced by most of the region's chemical-related companies," he said.

According to Kalla, the Indonesian government had issued a series of packages to support the chemical industry in the country.

He promised that the government remained committed to helping the industry, such as by maintaining tax incentives for those operating in frontier areas.

Kalla said that the chemical industry, which at present contributed 6.4 percent of the country's total exports and 11.6 percent of the employment, would record a higher growth rate this year after experiencing setbacks in the last two years.

Fadel Muhammad, the vice chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for metal, machinery and chemical- based industries said about 40 percent of the country's 1,500 chemical companies were forced to halt operations last year due to the crisis.

"Many chemical companies were forced to stop operations due to their inability to import raw materials," he said, adding that the sharp depreciation of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar made imported raw materials too expensive for them. (zen/hen)