[Unpad.ac.id, 30/03/2013] Intan Pertiwi Sianipar, a student of the Development Economic Studies, Faculty of Economics and Business Unpad, has successfully become the first runner up in the Youth Essay Writing Competition 2013—The Third Coral Triangle Regional Business Forum held in Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua Hotel Bali on Monday 25/03) after presenting her paper on environmentally safe sunblock lotion.
“I was so excited at receiving the invitation to take part in the event,” said she when contacted via email a few days before. Elaborating the business concept on sunscreen cream, Sianipar understood that most sunscreen products widely used nowadays could actually affect the existence of corals, which in time lead to their destruction.
“I believe that there should be a sunscreen product that is environmentally safe, especially for the corals. In addition, I also wanted to promote the concept of blue economy,” said Sianipar when explaining about the reason of making blue sunblock. The lotion is made of natural ingredients consisting of sesame seeds, cocoa butter, palm oil, refined water, zinc oxide, vitamin E, and rosemary tingtur, which are believed to be safe for corals and excellent for human skin. Thus, her finding has provided an answer for the question that the forum has been asking i.e. “what can businesses do to help create a blue economy for the coral triangle region?”
“I really hope that this will contribute to the preservation of our corals and simultaneously benefit the economy of the community at large,” Sianipar added.
The forum organized the writing competition as an initiative from the Ministry of Fishery and Marine Affairs Republic of Indonesia collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Coral Triangle Center (CTC), and Coral Triangle Iniatiave (CTI). Participants are coming from numerous countries namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Solomon Islands.
