National Development Planning (Bappenas) Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said in Jakarta on Friday that improving the quality of education and health was crucial as the demographic bonus would become a window of opportunity for Indonesia to become a developed country.

“This is the best time for Indonesia to become a developed country. As of now, we are still an upper-middle [income] country and therefore the demographic bonus should be utilized by enhancing the quality and competitiveness of human resources,” said Bambang in Jakarta during a seminar.

To reach the vision, Bambang said, the government should increase workforce productivity by expanding education services, enhancing skills and increasing work training. “Workforce productivity is the key to extending the demographic bonus. [Therefore] we should immediately close the gap between the education sector and market needs.”

He added that the government needed to upgrade work safety to develop a more productive and healthy workforce. “The health sector is a priority [to benefit from the demographic bonus]. If members of the public are not healthy then they will not be productive.”

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) estimates that Indonesia will enjoy a demographic bonus from 2020 to 2035, when the productive age population is expected to reach 64 percent of Indonesia’s population, which is projected to surpass 300 million people by 2035.

To achieve the bonus, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) notes, Indonesia will have to accelerate job creation for the working age population (15 to 64 years) and lower youth unemployment, which is significantly higher than other age groups, likely because of stringent labor regulations, low education quality and skill mismatches.

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