Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government is seeking to prioritize middle- to high-skilled migrant workers in overseas placements to help bolster the image of quality Indonesian human resources, a cabinet member said.Coordinating Minister for People's Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar highlighted the current trend of more unskilled than skilled workers being sent overseas, saying that the situation needs to change.
"We need to balance it, or at least increase the number of high-skilled or middle-skilled migrant workers placed abroad," he expounded at a press conference here on Tuesday.
He informed that the coordinating ministry and the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Ministry will collaborate to enhance the quality of Indonesian migrant workers, including through the improvement of vocational training activities organized by the Education Ministry.
"Increasing the domestic wage will also help reduce the number of unskilled workers becoming migrants and seeking jobs overseas," he added.
Hence, improving vocational training and minimum wage will enhance the government's endeavors to nurture unskilled workers into middle- to high-skilled migrant workers, the coordinating minister said.
Meanwhile, Migrant Workers Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding said that his ministry will optimize ongoing collaboration with government agencies and the private sector to improve Indonesian migrant workers' quality.
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The ministry will also explore financing schemes to fund migrant workers' recruitment and training, including language training that requires extensive funding, to help the workers get accepted in their target countries.
"We are open to investments to training centers specialized for overseas (placement)," Karding added.
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According to the Manpower Ministry data, a total of 207,090 Indonesian migrant workers, comprising 98,163 formal sector workers and 108,477 informal sector workers, were placed overseas in January–August 2024.
Most Indonesian migrant workers are concentrated in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore.