JAKARTA - Based on the Making Indonesia 4.0 roadmap, the chemical industry is one of the sectors that gets priority development because it is able to make a significant contribution to the national economy. This is because chemicals are strategic commodities to be used as raw materials in various other industrial sectors.
"The chemical industry is in the Top 3 major contributors to the performance of the non-oil and gas processing industry sector so that it becomes a sector that plays an important role in the growth of the national manufacturing industry," said Director General of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Textile Industry (IKFT) Muhammad Khayam at the MoU signing event between the Ministry of Investment/ BKPM with Lotte Chemical Corporation, and EPC Agreement in Jakarta, Friday (7/1).
The Director General of IKFT said that his party is determined to continue to suppress the trade balance deficit in the chemical industry sector. "Therefore, it is necessary to develop investment in the chemical industry which can also accelerate the substitution of imports of chemical materials and goods," he said.
Khayam explained, in particular, the petrochemical industry is a strategic sector at the upstream level which is the basic capital and main prerequisite for developing downstream industries such as to produce plastic products, fabric fibers, textiles, packaging, electronics, automotive, and medicine.
From 2020 until 2025, the government is trying to oversee giant chemical industry development projects with a total investment value of USD 31 billion. One of them is the PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia Project in Cilegon, which will employ up to 15,000 people during construction and 1,300 people during commercial operations. (LM)