Khofifah Hopes That The Presence Of Malang Creative Center Will Be Able To Reduce The Unemployment Rate

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa hopes that the presence of Malang Creative Center (MCC) in Malang City, East Java, will be able to reduce the open unemployment rate (TPT).

During the inauguration of the MCC in Malang City, Friday, September 22, Khofifah said that the presence of the MCC, which is a forum for creative economy actors, could have a positive impact on the economy which ultimately suppressed the TPT.

"Creativity, innovation, productivity, this is the key to being able to build economic growth inclusively. The growth, the lower the open unemployment rate," said Khofifah, as quoted by Antara.

Khofifah explained that the East Java Provincial Government has an Information Technology Creative (JITC) in the city of Surabaya and Malang City which is a forum for creators for the creative industry sector.

According to him, the role of the MCC, which is a forum for the creative economy, is expected to be able to strengthen the presence of JITC by becoming the creator of jobs in the region.

"How can you actually open up job spaces, not just the business world, industry and work that can create jobs. However, this job creator or job creator from the MCC can also do it," he said.

He added that the presence of the MCC, which was strengthened by the creative industry sector of Malang City through various existing start-ups, is expected to be able to make this forum to expand the opening of job opportunities resulting from various innovations.

"For those in the MCC, the initial intention was to gather creators, build extraordinary innovations," he said.

The potential for the creative economy, he continued, was recorded as very large where at the national level it was able to contribute Rp1,280 trillion with donations to Gross Domestic Revenue (GDP) reaching seven percent.

"Nationally, the contribution of the creative economy, which is IDR 1,280 trillion is very high. Of the total, nationally, the contribution to GDP is seven percent, this is a huge potential," he said.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Malang City noted that in 2022 the open unemployment rate (TPT) in the region was recorded at 7.66 percent, lower than the previous year which was 9.65 percent.

In Malang City, there are 717 thousand people who are included in the category of working age population. Of the total number, 452,000 people are a workforce, while the other 264 thousand are categorized as non-workforce.

Of the 452,000 people who are residents of Malang City who are included in the workforce category, as many as 418 thousand people or 92.34 percent work, while the rest fall into the unemployment category.

Unemployment based on the level of education, most of them came from unemployment, education, Vocational High School (SMK) reached 29.17 percent and was attended by university graduates at 25.18 percent.

The MCC is a center of activity for individuals who are active in the creative industry sector and aim to empower and develop potential human resources (HR) in the creative industry by providing adequate supporting facilities.

The MCC plays an important role in promoting equitable growth in every creative economy sector that is part of 17 sub-sectors of the creative economy such as architecture, film, photography, crafts, culinary arts, fine arts, products, applications, games, television and radio as well as fashion.