TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Industry Ministry will focus on developing new industrial centers outside Java. I Gusti Putu Suryawirawan, director general of metal, machinery, transportation, heavy equipment, and electronic industries at the Industry Ministry said that 70 percent of the national industries are concentrated in Java. Industries in West Java and Banten make up 55 percent of the total number of Industries in the country.

“We didn’t spread industry growth across Indonesia, so our homework is to build new industrial cities,” Putu said at the International Seminar on Continued Sustainable Development held in Jakarta on Wednesday, March 8, 2017.

Putu added that the initiative is reflected in the national industry development master plan. In addition to spreading industrial centers, the master plan also contains endeavors to boost added values of natural resources.

“We need to increase added values of raw materials that we have,” Putu suggested.

Putu went on that the next step to realize the plan is to equip human resources with skills and capability needed by each sector.

“We’re still struggling in this field. Therefore, we’re still using foreign workers,” Putu said, adding that one of the steps taken by the Industry Ministry is to provide training and vocational education programs. “When students finished their vocational high school, they can directly work at industries where they interned. So, they no longer need training.”

Putu revealed that the Industry Ministry has set a target to reach 1 million students across Indonesia to participate in the program by 2019.

He explained that industries also need other supporting factors in order to grow, such as infrastructures and strong capital. Another form of support for industries, Putu added, includes consistent policies and regulations.

The Industry Ministry recorded that the industry sectors with the largest contributions to the Gross Domestic Product include food and beverage that account for 32 percent of the GDP, followed by the metal industry, including electronics, information technology, transportation, machinery, and defense. The third largest contributor is chemical and pharmacy.

“Based on the business size, Indonesia is still dominated by small and medium businesses. The number of large companies is still limited, Putu said

GHOIDA RAHMAH