Green technology needed to restore competitive edge

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)