Wacker Chemie AG recently announced it is strengthening its presence in Southeast Asia with a new technical center for construction and adhesives applications in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. The technical facility will reportedly serve as a development and testing laboratory for dispersible polymer powders and dispersions, which are used as binders for the regional building, coatings and adhesives industries. By expanding its local expertise in development, applications technology and service, WACKER is able to optimally support customers and business partners in the region. It is thus further opening up Southeast Asia’s rapidly developing markets for high-quality construction polymers and chemical raw materials. "Southeast Asia, and Indonesia in particular, offer promising growth opportunities for WACKER. Demand for construction chemical specialties has risen noticeably over recent years, especially for our dispersible polymer powders and dispersions," said Christian Hartel of WACKER’s executive board during the opening ceremony. Since 2007, the company already opens a technical center in Singapore to support customers in the region in the development of new products and applications for electronics, textiles, automotive, coatings, construction and health care products. To meet the rising customer demands in Indonesia, the company is investing continuously in its local services and has now established a new competence center in Jakarta. “With the new technical center in Indonesia, we are further expanding our strong market position in the region. This will allow us to optimally support our local customers and partners,” Hartel added. "Our aim is to support our customers in the construction industry by realizing their individual requirements directly on the spot," explains Patrick de Wolf, Managing Director of WACKER Southeast Asia. "This enables us to develop and test innovative polymeric binder applications tailored to modern construction trends and local raw materials together with them. With the new lab, we are significantly contributing to the distribution of modern construction materials in Indonesia and Southeast Asia."