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)