     At the height of the low-cost textiles crisis last year, a Singapore 
statesman angrily suggested that the advanced nations should dismantle 
their textile industry and leave it entirely to the developing countries.  
Sure, a western wag said, but we could cripple them simply by denying 
dyestuffs.  For, without colour, there won't be fabrics; without fabrics, 
there won't be fashion; and without fashion, there won't be dollars.  This 
may be a highly cynical view, but it underlines how critical colour is to 
Asia's gigantic textile industry.
     Yet, hardly any developing country in Asia, with the notable exception 
of India, Pakistan and Taiwan, manufactures dyes.  Even as Asia's textile 
industry grew to incredible proportions during the sixties, its dyes imp-
orts nearly doubled from US$35 million to almost US$70 million a year.  
The wag who quipped about the importance of colour is forgotten, but the 
point he made has certainly stung Asian planners.  Already, the Asian Ind-
ustrial Development Council (AIDC) has started preliminary studies to 
find out whether the developing countries in this region can make a beg-
inning in the production of dyestuffs.
     With rare exceptions, almost all dyes in modern use are synthetic.  
Till the advent of petrochemicals, they were popularly called coal tar 
dyes because they were synthesised from such hydrocarbons as benzene which 
were derived directly from coal tar.  These hydrocarbons are converted in-
to intermediates like aniline and naphthols, and then combined to form a 
fantastic range of colouring substances.  Consequently, the manufacture of 
dyestuffs is highly research-oriented and capital-intensive.
     Monopoly.  Ironically enough, the production of dyestuffs is closely 
associated with the production of explosives.  For this reason, this ind-
ustry enjoyed (and, in some ways, continues to enjoy) a strategic position 
in West Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.  Before 
World War I, for example, Germany was an undisputed leader in the product-
ion of coal tar chemicals and of dyestuffs based on them.  She was also 
the most important supplier of intermediates to other manufacturers.  But 
the two World Wars which the Germans precipitated underlined their critical 
dependence on German supplies and spurred them on to greater research and 
greater production.  In the early twenties, their total production was 
barely a few thousand tons.  Thanks to sustained research and investment, 
their output soared during the sixties.  By 1968, they were manufacturing 
and marketing considerably more than they ever did:  some 115,000 tons in 
the U.S., 78,000 tons in West Germany, 41,000 tons in Japan and 37,000 
tons in the U.K.
     This period also saw the emergence of minimal facilities in India, 
Pakistan and Taiwan.  Typically, India produces over 5,000 tons of dyes-
tuffs (mainly, sulphur black, vat, dyes and azo dyes), Pakistan 2,000 tons 
(mainly, direct dyes,) and Taiwan 1,500 tons.  The development of the dye-
stuffs industry in any country (more strongly so in any developing country) 
follows there stages:  first, production from imported intermediates; sec-
ond, production of intermediates; and, third, production of basic organic 
chemicals from which intermediates are derived.  Projects.  On the assum-
ption that few developing countries possess the requisite research facil-
ities, knowhow or capital, experts suggest that Asian nations must be mode-
st in their initial ambitions.  The problem is, however, complicated by the 
fact that new plants must be versatile enough to produce as wide a range of 
dyes as possible--and thus give textile mills (and other colour users) the 
amplitude of choice they require to survive.  Mindful of these consider-
ations, United Nations and industry experts have framed three possible 
pilot projects of interest to intending investors.
     The first project is designed to produce 750 tons of direct dyes, 400 
tons of direct dyes, 400 tons of acid dyes, and 600 tons of sulphur black 
annually.  It calls for a total investment of US$4 million, some 65% of it 
in foreign exchange.  Its products will yield a gross turnover of US$2.7 
million and (allowing for a tax holiday of five years) a net profit of 
around US$610,000.  Thus, the pay-out time will be about five years.  The 
second project is designed to manufacture 1,200 tons of naphthol dyes a 
year.  This requires a local investment of US$1.2 million and a foreign 
component of US$2.1 million.  With an estimated turnover of US$4.2 million 
and a profit of US$720,000, the payout time will be less than four years.
     The third project aims at an annual output of 1,000 tons of organic 
pigment dyes.  It will cost US$2.5 million (half of it in foreign exchange) 
to set up.  With gross sales of US$3.6 million and a net profit of 
US$327,000, the pay-out time will be little more than four years.  For the 
more daring, a fourth project offers a very promising sideline.  Designed 
to produce 250 tons of optical bleaches, this project envisages a modest 
investment of less than US$1 million, which can be recovered in three 
years at most.
     Market.  AIDC experts, who are screening these projects, say that the 
production of dyestuffs from imported intermediates could be profitable in 
the developing countries of Asia.  An additional attraction is that all 
these plants will not only provide a fairly steady and large supply of es-
sential colours but also result in substantial foreign exchange savings 
through import substitution.  The latter advantage is based on a very rou-
gh estimate of current levels of consumption.  For instance, Hong Kong 
imports over 3,500 tons a year, Taiwan and South Korea together import 
some 2,500 tons, and the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia together buy 
around 5,000 tons.  Of course, their production costs can be substantially 
trimmed down if two or more countries are willing to enter into joint 
ventures and thus enjoy economies of scale.
     Admittedly, these projects can only underwrite very limited objec-
tives:  to give Asian fabric and garment producers some facility of oper-
ation, and to provide their traditional dyers and printers a ready, modern 
medium to work in.  It would be wholly imprudent to jump to the conclusion 
that the developing countries can set up a vibrant dyestuffs industry or 
acquire the requisite technology on their own.  For, the evolution of 
colouring substances, and dyes that adhere to the bewildering range of 
fibers in use now, is wholly the product of patient and prolonged re-
search.