Government Prepares Competent Workforce to Support Investment in Mandalika SEZ

The government is committed to preparing competent human resources to support investment growth in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK). This commitment was realised through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on the Identification of Labour Needs and Training in the Mandalika SEZ, held in Lombok on Friday (3/7). The event was organised by the Directorate General of Vocational Training and Productivity of the Ministry of Manpower, together with the Secretariat General of the National SEZ Council. “For me, Special Economic Zones are one of the main instruments in driving economic growth. When we talk about economic growth, one of the answers is SEZs, because they were established by the government to accelerate economic growth,” said Manpower Minister Yassierli in a statement in Jakarta on Monday. The FGD served as a forum to identify workforce competency needs, assess the readiness of vocational training institutions, and design training programmes aligned with the needs of industries in the Mandalika SEZ. The collaboration between the National SEZ Council Secretariat and the Ministry of Manpower is part of efforts to support the national economic growth target of 5.4 percent in 2026 by increasing labour productivity and strengthening the link and match between vocational training and business needs. This human resource strengthening is also in line with the Semester II 2026 Economic Stimulus Package, which places vocational training and apprenticeships as important instruments to increase productivity and accelerate labour absorption. The government has allocated a budget of Rp6.26 trillion to support the implementation of the apprenticeship programme starting in July 2026. Investment realisation in the Mandalika SEZ continues to show a positive trend. Up to the first quarter of 2026, the area recorded a cumulative investment of Rp6.06 trillion with a workforce absorption of 20,862 people. This achievement shows that the acceleration of investment must be balanced with the provision of competent labour so that industry needs can be met and investment can be realised immediately. During the FGD, Yassierli emphasised that the development of the Mandalika SEZ requires competent human resource support, especially in the hospitality sector, in line with increasing investment and tourism activity in the area. Amid various economic challenges, he noted that the apprenticeship programme is one solution to strengthen the readiness of the workforce to enter the job market. In the previous National Apprenticeship Programme, around 100,000 participants took part, and approximately 30 percent of them received job offers from the companies where they apprenticed. According to the Manpower Minister, this achievement shows that the apprenticeship programme is an effective instrument to bridge the workforce into the industry. He also highlighted the still high level of labour mismatch in Indonesia, both vertical and horizontal. Therefore, job-ready training designed specifically according to real industry needs is considered an important step to produce a competent and ready workforce.