New Transmigration Programme Aims to Create Jobs and New Economic Centres
The Ministry of Transmigration is directing transmigration areas to become new economic growth centres that open up productive employment, increase community incomes, expand markets for farmers and local businesses, and attract investment.
The transformation is considered increasingly relevant amid global economic and geopolitical changes. Professor of Economics at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Prof. Soner Başkaya, described transmigration as “the right programme at the right time.”
According to Prof. Başkaya, Indonesia’s relatively neutral political position, its strategic location on world trade routes, and its wealth of natural resources place the country in an advantageous position amid changes in global supply chains.
“Indonesia’s current position is very advantageous in the eyes of the world. Indonesia has a relatively neutral political position, strategic trade routes, and important natural wealth such as nickel, which is greatly needed by future industries, from batteries to electric vehicles,” said Prof. Başkaya at the Transmigration Executive Dialogue (TED) titled “From Transmigration to Productive Regional Transformation” in Jakarta on Monday (24/8).
However, these opportunities must be translated into real benefits for the community. Investment entering transmigration areas must not stand alone, but must create jobs, improve residents’ skills, drive local businesses, and build connections with industry and wider markets.
Prof. Başkaya assessed that transmigration areas need to be supported by agricultural processing centres, logistics networks, modern facilities, access to financing, and innovation ecosystems. In this way, communities would not only sell raw materials, but also benefit from production processes and longer value chains.
The new transmigration approach, according to him, can become an instrument to revitalise regions, attract investment and talent, and encourage the dissemination of knowledge. The goal is to create areas that are productive, developing, and attractive as places to work and build a life.
For the community, these changes mean more employment options without having to move to big cities. Farmers and MSMEs also have the opportunity to obtain technology, financing, business partners, and wider market access.
Prof. Başkaya reminded that the success of this transformation cannot be measured solely by the size of announced investment or the number of programmes implemented. The main measure is the change truly felt by the community, such as increased productive employment, rising incomes and skills, growing local businesses, and sustainable regional economic development.
This view aligns with the new paradigm being developed by the Ministry of Transmigration. Minister of Transmigration M. Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara stressed that economic development must precede population movement.
“The future of transmigration is not moving people first and then hoping economic opportunities will follow. We must create economic opportunities, prepare decent jobs and livelihoods, and then population mobility follows voluntarily, safely, and with certainty about the future,” said Minister Iftitah.
According to him, people will come and settle voluntarily if an area offers jobs, business opportunities, infrastructure, and better life prospects. Therefore, transmigration areas must be built as economic ecosystems that connect communities, land, knowledge, technology, investment, industry, and markets.
The ecosystem must cover the entire value chain, from research and seeding, production, processing, packaging, logistics, to marketing. With this approach, more added value can be created within the area and enjoyed by local communities.
Minister Iftitah cited the high consumption of durian in China, worth around Rp137 trillion per year. Such a large market should not only be an opportunity to export raw commodities, but also a basis for building a durian industry ecosystem in Indonesia.