RI, S'pore cooperate on human resources

JAKARTA (JP): Singaporean and Indonesian experts, identifying a number of common problems in their human resource management, suggested cooperation at all layers of society in the two countries.

Umar Juoro of Indonesia's Center for Information and Development Studies and Mohd. Ismail Shariff of the Association of Moslem Professionals of Singapore pinpointed specific areas of cooperation to solve human resource development problems in a discussion yesterday.

Shariff, said that Singapore's Malay and Moslem professionals can play a bridging role and provide linkages with relevant training institutions between the two countries.

The fact that there is a "language and cultural affinity" because of common ethnic and religious background provides a bonus for cooperative efforts, he pointed out.

Both men were speakers at the two-day Conference on Indonesia- Singapore: Cooperation for Competitiveness in a Changing World. Each explored the various problems of human resource problems faced by their countries, and found some common ones that could be solved together.

Juoro identified the major weak spot of Indonesian human resource development as an education system which fails to produce a qualified and trained labor force.

"Education does not produce graduates who are ready to work," Juoro told dozens of experts, officials and entrepreneurs participating in the conference which ended yesterday.

In addition, there are the low level of investment in human resource development, reluctance of educated people to work in the manufacturing sector due to the low income and status, as well as disproportionate absorption of graduates into the government sector.

"Despite the high economic growth, the anticipated shifts in the sectoral distribution of the labor force didn't take place," Juoro said.

The agricultural sector labor force remains large at 46 percent, contributing 17.6 percent to Indonesia's GDP of US$ 651 billion. The manufacturing sector only absorbed 13 percent of the workforce in 1994, contributing 21.1 percent to GDP.

Finally, there is also a problem of "education mismatch", Juoro said. The qualifications of college and university graduates do not equip them for the jobs desired and may be irrelevant to the needs of industries, he pointed out.

Singapore, Shariff said, also faces a number of human resources development problems. "The crucial question for Singapore is how to upgrade our low-skilled workers to match future demands," Shariff said.

He suggested that cooperation take place between the governments and privately managed training institutions. (swe)