PANGKALANBUN (Suara Karya): Investing heavily in districts area spur the improvement of people’s welfare, because it encourages employment, overcoming unemployment, run the economy, and alleviate poverty.
It was stated by a member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) of Central Kalimantan, Hamdani, in response to the inauguration of the Wood Processing Industrial Complex of Korindo in Natai Peramuan, West Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, on Thursday (25/7).
The event was attended by the Vice Governor of Central Kalimantan, Achmad Diran, the Regent of West Kotawaringin, Ujang Iskandar, the former Minister of Forestry, Bungaran Saragih, and the Ambassador of South Korea, Kim Youngsun, the Ambassador of Japan for Indonesia, Yoshinori Katori, the Chairman of PT Korindo Group, Seung Eunho, the Senior Vice Chairman of PT Korindo Group, Robert Beomsoo Seung, the CEO of PT Oji Holdings Kiyotaka Shindo, and PR of PT Korindo, Ayu.
“We and the people of Central Kalimantan are very grateful for the establishment of the industrial area. However, we hope that the local community can be involved and empowered,” said Hamdani in response to the cooperation project of three countries, namely Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan, under PT Korintiga Hutani (KTH).
The group was departed from Jakarta by a chartered plane, Pelita Air, and welcomed with traditional ceremony and art performance of Central Kalimantan at Iskandar airport, Pangkalan Bun.
“I visited the forest planting location in September 2012, in this area. It has now been extended of 80 ha that looks like sea of trees,” said the Ambassador of South Korea, Kim Youngsun.
He added that in the last ten years, this complex had been a manifestation of success and the spirit of cooperation between Indonesia and South Korea in forest planting. “It is incorporated in Tripartite Business Model, i.e. Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan that have the same vision and mission, so they have a great chance of win-win solution to achieve success,” he said.
It was also delivered by the Chairman of PT Korindo Group, Seung Eunho. “PT KTH which is a subsidiary of Korindo Group, is one of the largest private timber plantations in Indonesia that has been operating its forestry business in Pangkalan Bun since 1998.” said Seung Eunho. He also added that in March 2010, the largest pulp and paper manufacturer in Japan, Oji Holdings, has come to invest in Korindo.
“PT KTH is now processing woods in an area of more than 300 ha to produce paper pulp. To make a high quality produst, we build a woodchips plant with a capacity of 1 million tons/ year, which will be exported to Japan. The plant utilizes an eco-friendly biomass power plant to minimize the carbon dioxide release,” he said.
Robert said that PT KTH has been planting trees since 1998, located approximately 50 km to the north of the industrial complex. “We have had more that 70,000 ha of timber plantations that rapidly grow with the best management in Indonesia,” he said.
He explained that they also had signed two memorandums of understanding (MoU) along with the inauguration. First, MoU between PT KTH and the local government of Pangkalan Bun related to the development of ecotourism. “We hope through this ecotourism and our other CSR programs, will promote sustainable development for the local community,” he said.
The second MoU was signed with Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF). “Central Kalimantan is renowned as the natural habitat for Orangutan. Through the MoU with BOSF, PT KTH will show their commitment to serve not only the local communiti, but also global society by preserving the live of this endangered species,” said Sung.
The CEO of PT Oji Holdings, Kiyotaka Shindo, said that PT KTH is a joint venture between Korindo Group and Oji Group.
“Korindo Group, our partner company, has been operating in timber business in Indonesia for 40 years and has improved their business into plywood, palm oil, and timber, newsprint, and so on. We have great respect for Korindo Group who has the foresights and have implemented them, as well as theor know-how method that they have got from their experiences so far,” he said. (Kartoyo DS / Yudhiarma)
