JAKARTA – The government supports the use of bio-paraffin substitute (Bio-PAS) from palm oil in Indonesia’s batik clothing industry as it will increase the local content of the industry and reduce its imports. The Bio-Pas substitute was developed by the technology assessment and application board (BPPT) and the oil palm plantation fund management board (BPDPKS).
“The ministry of tourism and creative economy supports the use of palm oil based paraffin in the batik industry. This innovation will support the preservation of batik and will significantly contribute to the national creative economy in the future,” Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said when addressing a webinar on partnership of batik and palm oil industry in developing small and medium enterprises on Thursday, 8 April 2021.
The batik industry, which plays an important role in Indonesia’s creative economy, needs the paraffin wax resistance in the process of making batik clothes. Until now, the paraffin wax is produced from fossil fuels which are declining in reserves and are not friendly to the environment. Indonesia has to import a certain amount of it, as its local production cannot yet fully meet the local need.
He said that batik is part of Indonesian culture, which also contributes significantly to the national economy. The contribution will be higher if the batik industry increases its use of bio-paraffin from palm oil, which is the top commodity of the country.
“We pride ourselves on batik clothes as our own local products. But I don’t think it’s cool if we have to import the paraffin. So, today is the opportune time for us to launch the substitute of paraffin from palm oil. It will increase the local content of batik industry and further strengthen our national economy,” the minister said.
Indonesia has 101 batik producing centers with 47,000 industrial players. The batik industry employs 200,000 workers. Despite Covid-19 pandemic, the industry managed to increase its exports from US$17.99 million during the first semester in 2019 to US$21.54 million or around Rp321 billion during the same period in 2020.
“We hope the palm oil industry can sustainably supply the raw material for the production of bio-paraffin substitute, so that it can be further developed in Indonesia. We’ll keep pushing up its local use and ensuring that it will become an integral part of our batik industry,” said the minister.
BPDPKS President Director Eddy Abdurrachman said during the webinar that the production of bio-paraffin substitute for batik industry will further expand the versatility of palm oil. “We hope the local use of bio-paraffin for batik industry will increase the local demand for palm oil derivative products,” he said.
Also attending the webinar are BPPT Chairman Hammam Riza, Standardization and Industrial Service Policy Agency Head Doddy Rahadi and BPPT Deputy in charge of Agroindustry Technology and Biotechnology Soni Solistia Wirawan.
Source: sawitindonesia.com
