Green technology needed to restore competitive edge
JAKARTA (JP): The promotion of green products could offset the erosion of the competitive advantage of Indonesia's low labor costs on the international market, State Minister for the Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said yesterday.
Sarwono told a technical seminar on environmental technology at Hotel Shangri-la that Indonesia's position as an exporter of low-cost products is increasingly being challenged by such countries as India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan and China.
"In fact, the growth rate of our exports has leveled off because of the keener competition from new low-cost exporters," he told the seminar, organized by the trade organization HIDUP Indonesia.
Sarwono said Indonesia needs a new approach to maintain and broaden its share of the international market.
"The major element of the new strategy should be the promotion of green products through the development of clean production processes," Sarwono pointed out.
HIDUP, established last November, is an association of 35 companies which produce, sell and promote environmental products, services and technology.
"Our greatest concern is not the imposition of environmental protection as a condition on international trade but the mounting consumer movement against products which cause damage to the environment," he said.
He cautioned that industrial firms which do not attend to environmental protection will eventually be edged out because consumers will turn to the products of companies that do.
"The consumer movement is indeed a great concern for Indonesia because even today already more than 52 percent of its exports go to countries which have or are about to enforce ecolabelling schemes and other environmental standards," he added.
Even Hong Kong seems to be tougher now regarding environmental preservation.
Sarwono said 66 Indonesian textile companies recently received questionnaires from textile and garment buyers in Hong Kong on their commitment to environmental preservation.
The first three sessions of the seminar presented speakers, including Ralph Guttmann of American Polybac Corp., Paul Whincup, vice president of Dames & Moore and Peter Daley, vice president of Waste Management International Plc of London.
Systems
The seminar discussed systems of waste minimization and clean production in an effort to enlighten the business community of the benefits of products and services and technology from the point of view of the economy as well as environmental preservation.
"Our vision is that environmental technology must be used not only to protect the environment but also to develop the economy, to create jobs, transfer technology and make Indonesia more competitive in the international market place," said HIDUP Vice Chairman Arian Ardie.
Sarwono reaffirmed that the government will continue to tighten regulations regarding the protection of the environment.
"We should create the image of being the exporter of green products," he said.
To support the environmental campaign, he said, the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) will soon introduce a business performance rating system which will rank industrial firms according to their efforts to preserve the environment.
"The government also is now much more selective regarding the technology to be applied at new plants," Sarwono added.
The minister highly appreciated the awareness among an increasing number of Indonesian businessmen about the need to preserve the environment.
"I therefore fully support HIDUP and its programs as we have the same mission and can work together to protect the environment," Sarwono said. (vin)