Clariant Board of Directors Appoints Jurg Witmer as Chairman

At its meeting today, Clariant´s (SWX:CLN) Board of Directors
elected Jurg Witmer as Chairman and Rudolf Wehrli as Vice-Chairman.
Jurg Witmer replaces Roland Losser, who decided not to stand for
re-election to the Board of Directors at today´s Annual General
Meeting. Rudolf Wehrli replaces Tony Reis, who is stepping down from
the Board of Directors.

Jurg Witmer (59, Swiss) has been a member of the Board of
Directors since April 2007. From 1999 to 2005 he was CEO of Givaudan

and he is currently Chairman of its Board of Directors. He previously
occupied various global management positions at Roche. He is also a
member of the Board of Directors of Syngenta.

Rudolf Wehrli (58, Swiss) was CEO of the Gurit-Heberlein Group
from 2000 to 2006. He has held various managerial positions with the
Silent Gliss Group, Credit Suisse and Mckinsey.

Clariant - Exactly your chemistry.

Clariant is a global leader in the field of specialty chemicals.
Strong business relationships, commitment to outstanding service and
wide-ranging application know-how make Clariant a preferred partner
for its customers.

Clariant, which is represented on five continents with over 100
group companies, employs about 21,000 people. Headquartered in
Muttenz, near Basel, Switzerland, it generated sales of CHF 8.5
billion in 2007. Clariant´s businesses are organized in four
divisions: Textile, Leather & Paper Chemicals, Pigments & Additives

Masterbatches and Functional Chemicals.

Clariant is committed to sustainable growth springing from its own
innovative strength. Clariant´s innovative products play a key role in
its customers´ manufacturing and treatment processes or else add value
to their end products. The Company´s success is based on the know-how
of its people and their ability to identify new customer needs at an
early stage and to work together with customers to develop innovative

efficient solutions.