RI to remain open to expats: Official
RI to remain open to expats: Official
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Despite the new language proficiency test requirement,
expatriates working in Indonesia should not fear of loosing their
jobs because Indonesia will remain open to foreign workers and
students, says a government official.
The chairman of the National Commission for Standardization of
Professions (BNSP), Mudjiman, said he was surprised at the
overwhelming reaction from foreign workers to the new labor
policy.
"Like other countries, Indonesia makes policies not to bar
foreigners from entering, working, or studying in Indonesia, but
to facilitate their entry into Indonesia so that their stay gives
mutual benefit for the country and the foreigners themselves," he
told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris said
recently that starting next year foreigners wanting to work or
study in Indonesia would be required to pass an Indonesian
language proficiency test and to learn Indonesian culture to help
them develop better communications with their local environment.
The language proficiency test will be just one of several new
administrative requirements for foreigners to obtain work permits
from the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, or study permits
from the Education Ministry.
Mudjiman, who is also director general of labor productivity
at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, acknowledged that
the new policy was restrictive. He said the flow of foreign
immigrants into Indonesia had to be restricted or reduced in
order to protect local workers.
"What the government is doing is actually equal treatment, as
other countries do in housing and employing foreigners," he said,
citing Middle East countries that require that Indonesian
immigrant workers speak Arabic. He said that such rulings also
prevailed for Indonesians employed in Korea and Japan.
He said that BNSP had not yet yielded a clear concept on how
the test would be conducted.
He claimed, however, that the new policy would encourage
foreigners to build better communications with locals and learn
more about Indonesian culture.
"Foreign workers will also be able to transfer their skills
and knowledge to locals only if they speak in bahasa
proficiently," he said, referring to the Indonesian language.
Director general for labor supervision at the ministry
Maruddin Simanihuruk concurred, saying that the ongoing global
trade liberalization was actually a restriction for expatriates.
"And mastering bahasa is actually a competence Indonesia has
required from foreign workers, in liberalizing our labor market
in all sectors," he said, adding that with the new policy the
government had no intention of discouraging foreign investors
from coming to Indonesia.
He said that the number of foreigners in Indonesia who worked
or studied using government permits was around 28,000, and that
increasingly more were expected to come in line with the
implementation of Asean Free Trade Area next year, and the World
Trade Organization labor market liberalizations required in 2008.