Human resources no problem for RI: WB official
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's shortage of skilled workers should not be detrimental to the future growth of its economy, World Bank representative Dennis de Tray said yesterday.
"I don't think human resources would cause a bottleneck in the Indonesian economy, given the government's strong commitment in promoting education in the country," he told the 27th congress of the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes.
He said an adequate supply of skilled labor was one of most important factors in sustaining high economic growth in developing countries.
Improving people's education was a priority of the Indonesian government's development program. Many educational institutions have been set up in recent years, he said.
He said he was sure Indonesia could resolve its human-resource problems, de Tray said.
Chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aburizal Bakrie said companies in Indonesia, like those in the other ASEAN countries, did not have enough highly skilled workers to compete with those from more developed nations.
He said ASEAN companies must be realistic in tackling this problem.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is made up of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
"We can't wait... and we should, therefore, recruit skilled personnel from developed countries," he said.
De Tray said that Indonesia and other countries in the region would become major players in the global economy in the next decade.
He estimated that the East Asia and Pacific region, which had 7 percent economic growth over the last two decades, would become the center of global economic growth in coming years.
Rapid economic growth in the region, according to de Tray, would be driven mainly by the countries' export growth and substantial foreign direct investment.
He said exports would continue to rise not only because of the countries' increased efficiency, but because of the regions' increasing intra-trade.
Direct investment
Foreign direct investment will continue to flow into Indonesia, not only because multinational companies want to tap the rapidly growing domestic market but because the region is the most attractive place in the world to base production facilities, he said.
In the past two decades, this region enjoyed the highest economic growth rates in the world mainly because of their governments' ability to adopt wise, outward looking and stable macroeconomic management, he said.
"Serious attention to human resource development and the implementation of human strategies based on countries' comparative advantages are also important factors in the region's economic achievement," de Tray said.
But De Tray warned the region must retain its stable macroeconomic policies if it is to continue to be successful in coming decades.
"Recognizing the need for change that globalization is bringing is also another important aspect in maintaining high economic growth," he said,
Speakers at the three-day congress, scheduled to proceed in Bali today, include Bank Indonesia (central bank) Governor J. Soedradjad Djiwandono, former Australian prime minister Paul Keating and managing director of Bankers Trust of Hong Kong William H. Overholt. (hen/pwn)