President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has pledged to prepare five sectors to be developed for the fourth industrial revolution. Also referred to as Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution refers to the enhanced connectivity and digitization of the manufacturing sector.

“The five industries are food and beverage, textiles, automotive, electronics and chemicals,” Jokowi said during the opening of the Indonesia Industrial Summit 2018 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) on Wednesday as reported by kompas.com.

The President said the development of the five industries was expected to become the backbone of Industry 4.0 as it would improve the competitiveness of Indonesian products in the global market and create more jobs.

Jokowi, stressing the importance of developing human resources as stipulated in a road map on the implementation of the Industry 4.0 initiative, said that only those who mastered current technologies could contribute to the sectors.

“The development of the five industries is expected to have a great impact on Indonesian efforts to improve its competitiveness and it would contribute to the goal of becoming one of the 10 largest economies in 2030,” he added.

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said the summit would allow for the Industry Ministry and all stakeholders to hold discussions on the country's steps toward making advancements in Industry 4.0.

He said the ministry was ready to involve all parties and listen to ideas on the issue. (bbn)