PT Clariant Indonesia (CI) has launched its concern for education program in Tangerang as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. PT Clariant Indonesia will be channeling scholarships totaling more than Rp 200 through the Sampoerna Foundation (SF). The launching was marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Michael Lyons, President Director PT Clariant Indonesia and Elan Merdy, Chief Operating Officer for Sampoerna Foundation, at Sampoerna Foundation Headquarters, Jakarta on 25th June 2007.

With this donation, CI is also encouraging its employees to participate in the program.  ”We believe that education in Indonesia is the responsibility of all parties in Indonesia, including PT Clariant Indonesia and all of its employees. For that reason, the fund we have put into the care of Sampoerna Foundation is only the initial donation, which will hopefully motivate our employees to donate toward reducing the number of dropouts in Tangerang, particularly in the Cibodas area, where CI operates out of it central office,” said Michael Lyons after signing the MoU.

The initial donation will be disbursed in the form of scholarships for 32 students at schools, ranging from the elementary through university levels, in and around  Cibodas,Tangerang. The 32 students will receive scholarships for 7 years (starting in kindergarten), three years (for elementary, junior high and high school levels) and four years (for Strata I undergraduate university program level). The University level scholarships will be for study in the fields of chemical engineering of petroleum engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) or the University of Indonesia UI).

Chief Operating Officer SF, Elan Merdy, commented that SF deeply appreciated  the confidence shown in SF by PT Clariant Indonesia in its selection of SF to manage and channel the donated funds. “According to Department of National Education data for  2004-2005, up until now there are 2 million school age (5-24 years of age) in Banten and the surrounding areas. For that reason, there is a great need for parties willing to support efforts to reduce the number of children unable to afford schooling. Hopefully this first step by PT Clariant Indonesia will motivate its employees and other businesses in the Tangerang and Banten areas to work toward expanding access to education for the people of Tangerang and Banten,” Elan said.

Up through 2006, SF provided more that 350 scholarships ranging from elementary to high school level and 6 university scholarships to children in Banten Province.

About PT Clariant Indonesia

PT. Clariant Indonesia has operated for more than 4 decades, and is a member of the large business community in Indonesia. Clariant is a leading global company specializing in chemicals, with strong business relations, a solid commitment to providing prime services and applications throughout the world. This is what makes Clariant the partner of choice for its customers.

Clariant, which represents 5 of more than 100 businesses in a business group, has 21,500 employees. Based in Muttenz, near Basel, Switzerland, Clariant recorded sales of CHF worth  US$ 8.1 billion in 2006. Clariant’s business operations are comprised of 4 divisions: textiles, leather and paper chemicals, pigments & other chemical materials and masterbatch and functional chemicals.