Coordinating Minister Muhaimin Strengthens Indonesia-Japan Labour Cooperation

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar held a bilateral meeting with Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi Hiroshi to discuss strengthening labour cooperation between the two countries whilst improving the quality of Indonesia’s human resources in the global job market.

‘This cooperation is not merely about opening access to jobs abroad, but also about building Indonesian human resources that are competent, protected, and able to compete at the global level,’ said Coordinating Minister Muhaimin Iskandar in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The two countries discussed accelerating the finalisation of the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Employment Skill Development Programme as well as the extension of the MoC on Specified Skilled Workers as a legal foundation for strengthening Indonesia-Japan labour cooperation.

During the meeting, Indonesia proposed that the transition mechanism for Employment Skill Development Programme participants moving to the Specified Skilled Worker scheme be formulated more clearly and transparently to provide certainty for Indonesian workers seeking to advance their careers in Japan.

Coordinating Minister Muhaimin also introduced the SMK Go Global programme, a government-prepared initiative designed to produce vocational school graduates with competencies that meet the needs of the international job market, including Japan.

In addition, Indonesia expressed hope that the Japanese Government would consider a visa fee facilitation scheme for Indonesian Migrant Workers departing through official channels. This step is considered important to keep placement costs affordable and to encourage more people to choose legal, safe, and protected placement pathways.

Indonesia also pushed for the optimisation of Specified Skilled Worker Test Centre infrastructure, particularly in regions with the highest numbers of prospective migrant workers. This effort is expected to broaden public access to competency certification, which is one of the requirements for working in Japan.

Muhaimin affirmed that the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment will continue to strengthen cross-ministerial and institutional coordination to ensure that international cooperation delivers tangible benefits to the community.