Growth of chemical industry vital

Growth of chemical industry vital

The chemical industry is on the rise, showing the kind of
growth one normally sees in crops treated with agrochemicals.
While the rest of Indonesia's economy continues to dig its own
hole, the chemical industry is pointing the way toward a brighter
future of chemically enhanced happiness.

Most people think of Grateful Dead concerts (I know Jerry
Garcia is no longer with us and the Dead have ended their long
strange trip), and all-weekend raves when they think of
chemicals.

However, chemicals play a much more important and useful role
in the world than simply altering the perceptions of teenagers
and aging hippies.

The chemical industry actually is a socially responsible,
environmentally friendly component of so much which is necessary
for people to live comfortably and well.

For example, could the agricultural industry produce enough
food to feed the world if it were not for chemicals? From
chemically improved seeds which provide for greater yield to the
herbicides which kill the weeds that threaten food crops,
chemicals play a vital role in agriculture.

And with a continual growth in human population, agriculture
will come more and more to depend on new innovations in the
chemical industry to provide the basis for the increases needed
in agricultural production to feed the growing population.

Chemicals also are needed in petroleum refining and the pulp
and paper industry. Without chemicals for the petroleum industry,
we would probably all be walking. And who wants to walk in this
city with all that pollution rotting your lungs. Thankfully, in
large part due to the chemical industry, we are able to drive our
cars everywhere and avoid all that nasty pollution.

Without the chemicals used in the pulp and paper industry, you
would not be able to read about the wonders of the chemical
industry in this newspaper. And I wouldn't have a job.

And how about plastics processing, which would not be possible
without chemicals. I think that if we all took the time to think
about it, we would agree that plastic touches our lives in
innumerable ways every single day of our lives. Can you imagine
living without Tupperware, because I sure can't. And this is just
one small example of the significant presence plastic has in the
world.

I think, even though most of us don't realize it, that we all
owe a big thank you to chemicals for giving us the opportunities
and lives they have given us.

A friend to the environment

All those bleeding heart environmentalists who believe that if
it is not natural it is unnatural probably believe chemicals do
more harm than good.

The chemical industry is fully aware that if they destroy the
environment they destroy themselves. Sure, they could make a
quick killing, in terms of profit, by abusing the environment for
their own ends. But because the chemical industry is in it for
the long term, they are concentrating on environmentally
sustainable growth.

This is why the industry has come up with such products as
Roundup (R), a herbicide with low toxicity and which does not
remain in the soil. It would have been cheaper to manufacture a
herbicide which simply killed the weeds, soil and everything else
it touched, but then the industry's future would have been
destroyed as well.

The director general of Indonesia's chemical industry realizes
the importance of protecting the environment, calling on all
companies in the industry to be environmentally oriented. With
this kind of leadership, it is no wonder Indonesia's chemical
industry is so sensitive to issues involving the environment.

With all the wonders of chemicals, including our complete
dependence on them to maintain our quality of lives, it is not
surprising the chemical industry in Indonesia is experiencing
such exciting growth.

Naturally, this kind of growth would not be possible if
Indonesia did not offer the chemical industry the kind of
environment which makes companies eager to invest. And judging
from the number of multinational chemical companies which have
been drawn to Indonesia, the environment here is ripe for
chemicals.

With vast natural resources, a huge labor pool and the growth
of Indonesia's industrial base in the 1990s, not to mention the
potential for even greater growth once the economic crisis ends,
Indonesia is a veritable Eden for chemical companies.

Showing the strength of the industry, Indonesia's chemical
exports rose last year, and its dependence on imported raw
materials declined. All in all, the chemical industry here is
poised and ready to compete, and win, on the global chemical
market. The chemical industry really serves as a good role model
for the country's other industries.

Chemicals are vital to humans and yet it is extremely easy to
overlook their importance. Chemicals are not the final product of
the numerous industries in which they play such a vital role.
They simply are part of the process which makes the final product
possible. Chemicals can be seen as supporting actors, and who
ever remembers who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
Underappreciated and overlooked, chemicals make so much in our
lives possible, and, in Indonesia, the chemical industry is
helping lead the way to economic recovery.

You may not know their names, but you still have to love those
chemicals. (David Eyerly)