President Joko Widodo inaugurated national petrochemical company PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk’s new plant in Cilegon, Banten Province, on Friday (Dec 6, 2019) (ANTARA/ Sella Panduarsa Gareta/RN)
LENSAPANDAWA.COM – Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is optimistic that Indonesia would become one of the world's exporters of petrochemical products within the next four or five years owing to rising investment in this sector.
"I feel, four or five years from now, we will no longer need to import petrochemicals. Instead, we will become an exporter," he stated at an event to inaugurate the national petrochemical company PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk's new plant in Cilegon, Banten Province, on Friday.
With this new plant becoming operational, PT Chandra Asri's polyethylene production capacity will increase by 400 thousand tons to reach 736 thousand tons annually.
The demand for domestic polyethylene currently reaches 2.3 million tons annually, while the national polyethylene production stands at 280 thousand tons per year. To meet the domestic requirements, the country continues to import 1.52 million tons of polyethylene annually.
President Jokowi lauded PT Chandra Asri for its efforts to develop its business that he described as a concrete step to overcoming the country's trade deficit.
During the inauguration of the new plant, the president was accompanied by Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.
EDITED BY INE
Demikian berita ini dikutip dari ANTARANEWS.COM untuk dapat kami sampaikan kepada pembaca sekalian.
