Kadin pledges to take heed of green business
Kadin pledges to take heed of green business
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(Kadin) yesterday pledged to pay greater attention to the
preservation of the environment.
The chamber yesterday renewed an agreement with the Office of
the State Minister of Environment for cooperation in a number of
programs, which are designed to enhance the protection of the
environment by businesses.
Kadin Chairman Aburizal Bakrie and Minister Sarwono
Kusumaatmadja signed the new agreement at Kadin's headquarters in
Central Jakarta.
"The history of several countries, including Indonesia, shows
us that exploitation of natural resources that exceeds
environmental supports has led to pollution and dramatic
devastation," Bakrie said.
He said intense economic activities cannot continue, let alone
become sustainable, if people fail to protect the environment.
"We do not want to pass environmental damage on to the next
generation," he said.
The agreement revised the old one made by former Kadin
chairman Sotion Ardjanggi and the then environmental minister
Emil Salim.
It consists of clauses which require both parties to exchange
information on the environment, jointly organize research and
development to promote the sustainable development. Both parties
will also develop the training programs for environmentally-sound
business activities.
The agreement also consists of working programs such as
environmental law, human resources development, environmental
economy and environmentally-sound technology.
Sarwono said the time had come for the business community to
change the traditional view that the environment is the business
of non-government organizations and idealists. "Business,
industry and trade have now become an integrated part of
environmental awareness," he said.
The Minister said entrepreneurs now have no choice but to
respect the environment because of the global pressure for the
creation of sustainable natural resources and environmentally-
sound business.
He said that a failure to protect the environment would damage
the natural resources used for business activities which in turn
would lead to a failure of economic development.
Conference
Sarwono said entrepreneurs who ignored environmental
protection would lose their competitiveness and become "side walk
vendors" in the international circle.
He said that it is up to the entrepreneurs to make the
decision to improve their performance in term of environmental
awareness.
Yesterday, Kadin also announced the 21st International Small
Business Conference scheduled to take place in Jakarta from Sept.
18 to 21. The conference will be attended by more than 50
countries, including Canada, the United States, Brazil, Korea and
the Netherlands.
President Soeharto is scheduled to open the conference at the
Jakarta Hilton Convention Center in Central Jakarta, while
Sarwono and Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
will be among the keynote speakers. (par)