Category: News

Jakarta – The Chief of Staff to the President, General TNI (ret.) Dr. Moeldoko mentioned that Indonesia was still confronted with two big challenges in anticipating becoming a high-income country in 2045. Namely, human resources and employment.

Moeldoko said that the quality of Indonesian human resources is still distant from expectations. This can be seen from the achievements of the Human Resources Index (HCI) and the Human Development Index (HDI). For information, Indonesia’s Human Resources Index (HCI) in 2022 ranked 96th out of 174 countries. Meanwhile, for the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2023, Indonesia ranked 114th out of 189 countries.

“Not to mention that our competitiveness index is still low. We must anticipate this challenge in order to reach the high-income country by year 2045,” said Moeldoko when giving a public lecture at Tarumanegara University (Untar), Jakarta, Tuesday (19/3).

Moeldoko explained that the government had prepared a long-term strategy in preparation to deal with the demographic bonus and global disruption era. Specifically, by investing in the education sector, skills training, health, and preparing innovation infrastructure. “For example, in the education sector, the government has disbursed a very large budget into the KIP and KIP Kuliah programs. Likewise, in the health sector with KIS,” he explained.

Along with employment, he also affirmed that current employment in Indonesia is dealing with two problems. There are, high number of young people (aged 15-24 years) who are not currently studying, working or undergoing training (23.22% in 2022), and a skill mismatch between market needs and the workforce.

The second problem, Moeldoko continued, causes the unemployment rate for high school and diploma graduates to remain high. “Even 5.59% of college graduates are unemployed,” he said.

According to Moeldoko, labor productivity is one of the keys to reach Indonesia Emas 2045. Thus, the government has accelerated the implementation of vocational education and training, strengthening reskilling and upskilling training, conjointly integrating soft skills for the workforce to anticipate disruption. “One implementation is through the pre-employment card program,” he affirmed.

At that moment, Moeldoko emphasized that President Joko Widodo had built the foundation and road map to make Indonesia as a high-income country by 2045. First, human resource development. Second, maintain infrastructure development. Third, regulatory reform through the Job Creation Law. Fourth, bureaucratic reform, and fifth, economic transformation through downstreaming.

“President Jokowi’s five directions are the foundation for bringing Indonesia out of the middle income trap by 2036. Brazil, Mexico and Argentina were example countries who were unable to get out of the middle income trap. Don’t let it happen here, don’t let it happen,” he shouted.

Medan, North Sumatra – The Chief of Staff to the President, General TNI (ret.) Dr. Moeldoko, affirmed that Indonesia was still confronted with two big challenges in the employment sector. First, the high number of young people who are not currently in education, employment or undergoing training. Second, the skills mismatch between market needs and the workforce.

During the public lecture at the University of North Sumatra (USU), Friday (01/03), Moeldoko said that Indonesian youth aged 15-24 years who are not currently studying, working or undergoing training reach 23,22% in 2022. “One of the highest in ASEAN countries,” he explained.

Regarding the issue of skills mismatch between market needs and labor, according to Moeldoko, causes the unemployment rate for high school and diploma graduates to remain high. Respectively reaching 8.41% and 5.59%. “It is important to understand the complexity of Skill Mismatch and find collaborative solutions to overcome this problem,” he continued.

Moreover, Moeldoko told that labor productivity is one of the keys to actualize Indonesia Emas 2045 vision. So, the labor must be skilled, adaptive, innovative, and able to fill local and global expectations.

Responding to this challenge, he continued, the government has accelerated the implementation of vocational education and training, strengthening reskilling and upskilling training, as well as integrating soft skills for the workforce to anticipate disruption. Apart from that, since 2020 the government has also launched a pre-employment card (Kartu Pra Kerja) program which has currently trained 17.5 million workers. “This is all the government’s effort to bring market needs closer to labor,” said Moeldoko.

On that occasion, Moeldoko, who is also Deputy Chair of the Job Creation Committee, highlighted that the government is aggressively increasing investment in the country. One of the goals is to open up as many job opportunities as possible. For this reason, increasing the skills and competence of Indonesian workers is a necessity to the national future generation. “Don’t just protest about the influx of foreign workers. We also need to improve our skills and competencies,” he said.

As information, before giving a public lecture at the University of North Sumatra, Moeldok visited a training institution for pre-employment card participants in Medan, the Innovam Indonesia Training Center. This institution provides training in the automotive field, especially car electrical repair techniques for light vehicles. The training itself is carried out using an offline scheme.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – The Chief of Staff to the President, General TNI (ret.) Dr. Moeldoko held a bilateral meeting with Assistant-Director and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Jong Jin Kim, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday (23/2). During the meetings, Moeldoko suggested three strategic ideas to strengthen food security in the Asia Pacific region. Specifically, initiating farmer regeneration through training centers, expanding smart farming, and also enhancing tropical farming research and innovation.

Moeldoko said the establishment of a farmer regeneration training laboratory center was part of the transformation of the agri-food. At present, farmer regeneration has become the main issue for all the countries around the world. For this reason, a program to accelerate farmer regeneration through a training laboratory is urgently needed. “It would be a place to exchange knowledge and best practices from various Asia Pacific countries and then be replicated through the FAO network,” said Moeldoko.

Moeldoko also ensured that Indonesia is ready to become the laboratory center for farmer regeneration, because of its excellence in natural and human resources. In addition, the Government of Indonesia and FAO have formerly collaborated to build a farmer regeneration program which includes tiered training from upstream to downstream involving the corporate sector, ministry/institutions, Bank of Indonesia, farmer association, and youth organization.

Moeldoko, who is also the Chairman of Indonesia Farmers Organizations (HKTI), views young generations’ interest in agriculture must be supported by technologies. For instance, smart farming as a new form of agriculture is much more related to the young generations nowadays. He also mentioned that South Korea would be a fit strategic partner. “South Korea is acclaimed for its technology in smart farming, and we are ready to collaborate to train Indonesia’ young farmers,” he added.

Apart from regenerating farmers and developing smart farming, building a massive research and innovation center is seen as the most beneficial investment to achieve food security in the Asia Pacific regions. Moeldoko expressed that research and development of local foods has not been in its best performance, especially regarding seeds and utilization of plasma nuftah, good agriculture, and increasing its value. Whereas, most of the countries in Asia Pacific regions are tropical countries rich in biological resources that can be utilized for the development of food diversification.

“In fact, food development could become the answer for the food security issues and as an effort to improve farmers’ welfare,” Moeldoko conveyed.

“Also, Indonesia is willing to initiate the development of a research center, with support from FAO and other related institutions, this will be an exchange of experience and knowledge that can be utilized,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Jong Jin Kim appreciated and will support Indonesia’s effort to regenerate farmers. He also agreed to the Government of Indonesia’ proposal and will share the experiences to find the best way to solve the current farmers and agriculture related issues. “FAO has also made a study of policy suggestions that can be used as a reference to increase the interest of young farmers,” he said.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – The Chief of Staff to the President, General TNI (ret.) Dr. Moeldoko invited FAO member countries in Asia Pacific to initiate the development of research and development centers for “tropical farming” as an effort to diversify food in the region. This was conveyed by Moeldoko, during the 37th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday (22/2).

Moeldoko said Indonesia could become a laboratory for finding appropriate solutions for the development of “tropical farming” for the common good.

“Indonesia is willing to initiate the development of a research center with the support from FAO and related institutions. This will be a place to exchange experiences and knowledge which can then be replicated and applied by member countries in the Asia Pacific region,” Moeldoko conveyed.

Indonesia, as the biggest tropical country in the world, added Moeldoko, has a great potential to develop tropical agriculture, such as rice, sweet potatoes, cassava and currently developing products are sago and sorghum.

In food development, continued Moeldoko, there is a main obstacle, namely the lack of research and development (R&D). Therefore, research is needed regarding superior seeds, appropriate fertilizer, as well as pest and disease management to support the continued application of appropriate technology. “With rapid climate change, we need solutions, this can be done by massive research,” he added.

Indonesia has started a project to build an Agricultural Training and Demonstration Center in Fiji, which is supported by the Government of Indonesia through the International Development Cooperation Fund (LDKPI). Apart from that, Indonesia has also collaborated with several countries in Africa and Asia Pacific. Through this experience, Moeldoko believes that strengthening research and development of “tropical farming” will be beneficial for Asia Pacific countries in building food security and farmer welfare.

“Indonesia is ready to support partnership in implementing Hand in Hand Initiatives programs, as an effort to achieve the SDGs goal of no one left behind,” he concluded.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) acclaims The Chief of Staff to the President, General TNI (ret.) Dr. Moeldoko concept on strengthening farmer regeneration in the Asia Pacific region. This was conveyed by the Chairman of FAO, Hans Hoogeveen, during the 37th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday (21/2).

Hoogeveen assessed that Indonesia has shown real steps in responding to the global food crisis menace, notably through the transformation of the agricultural sector, including efforts to regenerate farmers.

“If young generations are not interested in agriculture, this will be a disaster. FAO will follow up and negotiate the concept delivered by the Government of Indonesia, notably in farmer regenerations,” Hoogeveen affirmed.

A total of 34 delegates from FAO Asia member countries witnessed Moeldoko’s presentation regarding three priorities for agricultural and food transformation to face the food crisis in the Asia Pacific region.

First, transformation of farming methods. Moeldoko emphasized the importance of encouraging more efficient and sustainable agriculture. Regional cooperation in developing agricultural technology needs to be strengthened.

Second, the transformation of food products. The Asia Pacific region, which prospered in biological resources, must build food security by diversifying food. Moeldoko gave the example of Indonesia which is developing non-rice foods such as sago and sorghum. “We need to built-up regional cooperation in developing non-rice food,” he added.

Thirdly, farmers’ transformation. Moeldoko highlighted the problem of farmer regeneration in the region and the world. Farmers are getting older and it is difficult to attract young people. To answer this challenge, Indonesia is working with the FAO to build a farmer regeneration program. This program includes tiered training from upstream to downstream, including the use of smart farming technology and profitable business methods. “This method has been proven to attract young generations’ interest in the agricultural sector,” said Moeldoko.

Indonesia, with its demographic bonus and 170 million digitally competent people, has the advantage of producing young farmers. Aside, Indonesia also has vast land with 333 rivers and a supportive tropical climate. With these advantages, Moeldoko believes that Indonesia could become the training center of the farmers’ regeneration in the Asia Pacific region. “We want the farmer regeneration program initiated with FAO to become a training center for young farmers in Asia Pacific regions,” he said.

“Through this training, we also open ourselves up to exchange experiences and knowledge between farmers, thereby it could accelerate the interest of young generations in the agricultural sector,” Moeldoko concluded.