Labour Minister: Overseas Internships Are a Solution to Indonesia's Employment Challenges
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker) considers the overseas internship programme to be a solution to Indonesia’s employment problems.
“With permission to report, since the agenda only relates to internships, we interpret that there are domestic internships, which are the national internship programme, but there are also overseas internships which, in our view, constitute one of the solutions to the employment challenges we face at present,” said Labour Minister Yassierli during a working meeting with Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) on Thursday (9/4/2026).
Yassierli explained that in 2025, the government sent nearly 20,000 internship participants abroad.
The majority of participants were placed in Japan through networks of vocational training institutions (LPK) and sending organisations.
“So we wish to report, ladies and gentlemen, that last year, 2025, we sent nearly 20,000 people abroad, the majority to Japan, through sending organisation networks, LPK and sending organisations,” he said.
To achieve that target, the government has prepared several strategies, including expanding the destination countries for placements.
“And this year, we want those numbers to increase in accordance with the instructions from the President. This is what we are doing, these are our strategies,” Yassierli stated.
Yassierli elaborated that the government has begun exploring placement opportunities for internships in several countries besides Japan.
However, Yassierli acknowledged that there are still several obstacles, particularly related to language requirements.
“And then we are also actively seeking placement opportunities for internships abroad, which at present we are still focused on Japan, although there have been some requests from other countries, but usually the issue is related to language, for example in Germany, in Turkey, in Taiwan, and so on,” said Yassierli.
“And this once again becomes one of the solutions related to how we open up broader employment opportunities for Indonesia’s workforce,” he concluded.