I

ndonesia’s private sector will need about 2 million skilled workers within the next three years to support growing business activities, according to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Kadin said on Tuesday that the demand for workers was based on the projection of 13 business associations including the Indonesian Shipbuilding Association (Iperindo), Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), Indonesian Furniture Industry and Handicraft Association (Asmindo) and the Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) .

Kadin chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto said these combined business sectors would create job opportunities for 2.91 million people a year, but 80 percent of the jobs would be unskilled.

“Cooperation between the government and the business sector is needed to improve the quality of young workers,” Suryo said during the opening ceremony of a meeting titled “Improving the Quality of Young Workers Approaching Developed Indonesia in 2025”.

During the meeting, Kadin along with National Professional Certification Agency (BNSP) and the business associations agreed to initiate a partnership program to educate young workers.

The cooperation, backed by the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), aims to improve the quality of young workers in the six economic corridors as part of the government’s Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic growth (MP3EI).

MP3EI is a government economic-acceleration program expected to spend trillions of rupiah to trigger growth in Indonesia and, in the long run, to make the country one of the top five global economies in 2025.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), Kadin will be responsible for the establishment of competence-based training centers and BNSP will be responsible for worker’s competence certification. Thirteen industry associations that also signed the MoU are set to provide jobs for the young workers.

In order to support the program, Kadin is planning to initiate competence-based training centers in 33 provinces to create qualified human resources specifically for industries in the six economic corridors.

According to National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana, the training centers will focus on providing a qualified workforce for the specialized industrial sector of each economic corridor.

According to Armida, the agreement also aims to cut the current unemployment rate of 6.56 percent to only 5 to 6 percent in 2014 and create 3 million to 4 million job opportunities per year by 2025.

The national unemployment rate decreased from 7.14 percent in 2010 to 6.56 percent in 2011, and the unemployment rate among those aged between 15 to 24 fell from 6.8 million in 2005 to 4.2 million in 2011.

However, the government remains concerned, as the number is still considered high compared to neighboring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia. (nad)