Ciba Specialty Chemicals reorganizes its environmental and safety control systems in the Asian region. The Singapore government makes further efforts to promote investment in life science. Malaysia eyes an ethylene plan for the next term. Vietnam's chemical industry enters a period of full-fledged growth. Nippon Mitsubishi Oil restarts a PX joint venture in Thailand.
Malaysian government makes efforts to expand a downstream sector of petrochemical business.
The supply and demand for MMA in Asia tightens. The Asian phenol market price is expected to rise further in the future. China Sumika Color doubles the capacity of a joint company in China. China restarts imports of South Korean polyethylene. China publishes an official report on the environmental situation in China in 1999.