Kepri Provincial Government Expands Human Capital Programmes for Overseas Employment

The Riau Islands Provincial Government (Pemprov Kepri) is expanding programmes to strengthen competent and globally competitive human capital (SDM) for official overseas employment in cooperation with the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP3MI). Governor Ansar Ahmad stated that in 2025, the dispatch of workers abroad reached 2,305 individuals. Meanwhile, in 2026, up to May, the figure reached 1,236 people out of a target of 3,000. “Year on year, the dispatch of overseas workers from Kepri has been quite good. We consistently work together with the central government and BP3MI to prepare competent human capital according to global needs,” Ansar said in Tanjungpinang on Tuesday. Additionally, the government is preparing an IDR 2 billion budget this year for vocational high school (SMK) graduates to undergo competency tests and special certifications aligned with the needs of the overseas workforce. Furthermore, Ansar noted that the local government, through the Sahid Bintan Tourism Institute, has established cooperation with relevant institutions from Austria to ease acceptance into the overseas job market. “We have flagship polytechnics ranging from health to tourism, which focus on vocational education to improve the quality of human capital for working abroad,” Ansar stated. Ansar further mentioned that in recent years, Pemprov Kepri has been developing vocational education platforms at the senior high school level. According to him, in the future, the number of regular senior high schools (SMA) in Kepri should be just 30 per cent, with the remaining 70 per cent being SMKs offering vocational majors, such as welding. This effort aims to produce human capital ready to enter the domestic job market amidst rapid investment growth in Kepri, as well as to compete in the international market. “We are converting some SMAs into SMKs that meet the demands of the working world. The proof is that junior high school graduates in Kepri are now flocking to enter SMKs, because SMK graduates are indeed prepared to enter the workforce,” Ansar said. The governor is optimistic that these various programmes can produce high-quality, globally competitive human capital from the Riau Islands. Moreover, Kepri’s geographical position, bordering directly with neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Singapore, presents great opportunities for local workers to find employment there. According to data from the Ministry for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (P2MI), there are approximately 320,000 overseas job vacancies for prospective workers in the country. Of this number, Indonesia has only been able to fill 75,378 positions, or 24 per cent of the total. Some of the overseas employment opportunity sectors include health, manufacturing, fisheries, livestock, plantations, agriculture, construction and welding.