Experts calls for all out effort against unemployment

Experts calls for all out effort against unemployment

JAKARTA (JP): A seminar on unemployment concluded yesterday
with a call for an all out effort to cut the massive jobless rate
in Indonesia.

The three-day seminar proposed that unemployment in Indonesia
could be tackled by slashing population growth, improving the
education system, and most of all, by speeding up
industrialization process.

The seminar was organized by the Ministry of Manpower and
attended by officials and experts.

"The industrial sector should be allowed to continue growing
and given a leading role in absorbing workers," Wiwoho told the
closing ceremony of meeting. "We should also strive to strengthen
the productivity of the workers," Wiwoho said.

The gathering was the first of seven seminars organized by the
Ministry of Manpower to address problems with manpower in
Indonesia. The other seminars, to be held through July, will
discuss productivity, training, industrial relations and other
topics.

But there was no doubt that unemployment was the prime concern
of the government. New estimates suggest that as many as 38
percent of the 86 million people in the work force are either
totally unemployed or underemployed.

The seminar was opened on Tuesday by President Soeharto with a
call for the nation to build a strong and skilled industrial
labor force as the nation continues with to become
industrialized.

Experts at the seminar stressed that Indonesia must continue
to cut the population growth rate from 1.7 percent a year to 0.9
percent. They said this would help ease the pressures on the need
to create job opportunities in the future years.

Currently some 2.5 million new workers start working each
year, adding pressure to the already strained job market. The
government said the economy needs to grow by at least six percent
simply to absorb the new workers.

The seminar proposed that the government further deregulate
the economy to encourage more domestic and foreign investment and
bolster the private business sector.

It said that the private sector, rather than the government,
should be expected to create the bulk of the new job
opportunities in the future. They should also be expected to
provide the necessary training to improve the workers' skills.

However, one of the speakers at the seminar, economist Mari
Pangestu, warned that even the private sector cannot be expected
to absorb all the workers.

Mari stressed that the key still lies in the economy's
informal sector where the bulk of the population still earn their
livelihoods.

"We may speak of training workers and improving the quality of
education, but we should also question whether or not the private
sector and the government have adequate resources to do so," she
said.

The seminar also pointed out that unemployment could not be
separated from the poverty and education issues.

Many individuals at the seminar stated that the key to solving
the unemployment problem, and poverty for that matter, still lies
in strengthening the education system so that the nation can
produce highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs.

The seminar also called for a more active participation of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the local press in
fighting against unemployment. (rms)