He said that pulp and paper industry at home was able to absorb 242,822 workers and contribute US$4 billion of foreign exchange to the state, or about 6.1 percent of the total production in the manufacturing sector.
Thus, he said, Indonesia is ranked ninth in the list of the world`s pulp exporting countries, with an average export of 1.6 million tons per annum.
In the meantime, Indonesia is also ranked 12th in the list of paper exporter countries with an average paper export of 1.7 million tons annually.
During the seminar, the minister expressed hope that pulp and paper industry would apply a change management concept so that the change in the future of forestry could be managed well and conceptually in the coming five, ten and twenty years.
The challenge is how to transform the factual conditions of forest resources which continue to drop due to illegal logging into meeting increasing need for forest products which are needed not only as pulp, paper carving raw materials but also for meeting food scarcity, energy and clean water in the future.
(SYS/A014/H-YH)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
