Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar and Minister for Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers Abdul Kadir Karding discussed issues related to protection and empowerment of the country's migrant workers, particularly diplomatic efforts to support them, on Tuesday."We have a lengthy discussion, emphasizing the need for our migrant workers abroad to receive priority in our diplomatic efforts. Given their significant numbers, we want migrant workers to be part of the goals of our foreign diplomacy," Iskandar told a press conference here Tuesday.
He noted that migrant workers contribute nearly Rp300 trillion per year to Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves. Therefore, all ministries, agencies, and relevant parties must give serious attention to their departure, placement, protection, and return to Indonesia.
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"Due to the significance of this foreign exchange, we hope that all ministries, relevant parties, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will pay close attention to the preparation for (the workers') departure, placement, recruitment processes, and protection in destination countries — all the way until their return to the homeland," he said.
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Meanwhile, Minister Karding highlighted that migrant workers are the second-largest foreign exchange contributors after the oil and gas sector.
Therefore, attention must be given from upstream to downstream to create job opportunities and a favorable market share in the future, he said.
"We believe that we can eventually rival the foreign exchange earnings from the oil and gas sector, provided that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all relevant ministries prioritize migrant worker diplomacy as a key focus in our future diplomatic efforts," he added.
