Higher Education Minister Reports to Prabowo on Workforce Preparation for Downstreaming Industries

The Minister of Science and Technology, who also serves as the Head of the Mineral Industry Agency, Brian Yuliarto, met with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. Brian stated that the meeting discussed the acceleration of downstream industries, including the development of a national car.

“The core issue is how to accelerate the downstream industries requested by the President and Danantara. There are many programmes, ranging from pharmaceutical industry development to the development of national cars and motorcycles, among others. These downstream programmes can be accelerated,” said Brian following the meeting at the Palace on Thursday (25/06/2026).

Furthermore, Brian admitted that he was instructed to ensure that human resources (HR) from university graduates are prepared to fill these downstream industries. According to him, these industries will require a substantial number of skilled workers.

“We have been asked to ensure that our university graduates can truly meet the human resource requirements for the development of downstream industries, which are indeed significant. This includes minerals, as well as aquaculture and aqua farming, which also involve many sectors,” he said.

Additionally, Brian mentioned that Prabowo wants his department to ensure that the required experts possess the appropriate competencies. He warned that the industries being accelerated for development must not be hindered by a shortage of human resources.

“We must ensure that the industries being boosted and developed rapidly do not suffer from a lack of human resources, or that the workforce provided is not suitable. For example, if we need many electrical experts but the graduates do not have the required skills, that would be an issue. Therefore, we have been tasked with calculating and ensuring that we can meet the needs of the existing downstream industries,” Brian added.