TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah met with Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, Yasushi Masaki, on Tuesday to discuss the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of labor.

During the meeting, Fauziyah expressed the hope for stronger cooperation and extended her wishes to Masaki on his deputation as the Japanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Indonesia.

Fauziyah said that Japan, which has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Indonesia for 65 years, is a strategic partner for Indonesia in several sectors, including labor.

"More than 100,000 participants have been sent to Japan under the apprenticeship cooperation program that has been established for 30 years," she highlighted.

She noted that in addition to the training program, the labor cooperation has covered the placement of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) in Japan, the development of labor services and the assignment of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Labor Advisors, and human resource development at the Ministry of Manpower.

Fauziyah said that 16 batches of Indonesian workers were placed as nurses and caregivers in Japan in the period from 2008 to 2023 under the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA).

"The total number of placements is 754 nurses and 3,196 caregivers," she informed.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Masaki said that Japan is very open to skilled and highly skilled people from Indonesia.

In addition to the manufacturing and caregiver sectors, Japan is continuing to open various sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, banking, food and beverages, and property development for Indonesian migrants.

Earlier, the Ministry of Manpower said that it is continuing to strengthen the apprenticeship program as one of the instruments to strengthen the competence of Indonesian human resources.

Last year, Indonesia and Japan's International Manpower (IM) renewed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the apprenticeship program.

ANTARA

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