Govt Urged to Maintain Domestic Professionals Prior to AEC
26 November 2015 19:48 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As the ASEAN Economic Community approaches, IPMI International Business School executive director and CEO Jimly M. Rifai Gani said that the government must have policies to prevent domestic professionals from moving abroad.
“The AEC opens a wider job opportunity and a more flexible mobility to find the best salary,” Jimly said in a seminar of Indonesia’s 2016 economic projection at IPMI campus in Jakarta on Thursday, November 26.
According to Jimly, in terms of salary, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia are more attractive to professionals with high qualifications. Jimly added that lack of domestic professionals would affect Indonesia’s competitiveness. In the 2015 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, Indonesia is ranked 42nd from 61 countries.
Therefore, Jimly suggested the government to craft programs that would boost working conditions through salary standards and benefit improvement. Jimly added that the government must also provide better housing for those professionals.
In the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) eight professions that will have no borders in ASEAN include architect, engineer, doctor, nurse, surveyor, accountant, dentist, and medical workers.
Jimly added that the regional free trade would force Indonesia to improve its competitiveness. Therefore, Indonesia would need to learn from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), where companies had added value, higher productivity, and supply chain to compete.
AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI