Support Downstream Metal Industry, Ministry Of Industry And Morowali Regency Government To Develop Vocational Education

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) is said to have reached a work agreement with the Morowali Regency Government (Pemkab) regarding the development of the Industrial Vocational One Diploma Equivalent Education program.

The Head of the Industrial Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDMI) of the Ministry of Industry, Arus Gunawan, said this strategic step was aimed at preparing competent and competitive industrial human resources (HR).

"This program is competency-based in the metal processing sector by adjusting the needs of a number of industries in Morowali Regency, where the number of industrial HR needs per year has reached 682,000 people, while the average number of workforce needs is 40,000 people per year," he said in a press statement, Sunday, January 9th.

According to Gunawan, the Ministry of Industry and the Morowali Regency Government want to increase the potential for the development of the metal processing industry. This effort is in line with the government's determination to carry out the downstream industry policy, especially to increase the added value of existing mineral and coal in the country.

According to Gunawan's notes, industrial downstreaming in the Morowali Industrial Estate, Central Sulawesi, has succeeded in downstreaming nickel ore into stainless steel. As an illustration, the price of nickel ore when sold is only around 40-60 US dollars, whereas when it is made into stainless steel the price can be above 2000 US dollars.

"The export value of products from the Morowali Industrial Estate has been able to penetrate 4 billion US dollars, both hot rolled coil and cold rolled coil product shipments to the United States and China. The contribution of the Morowali Industrial Estate is also reflected in the achievement of significant investment, more than 5 billion US dollars and the total employment of more than 30,000 people," he said.

On the same occasion, the Regent of Morowali, Taslim, revealed that the synergy that was built included the development of Small and Medium Industry (IKM) centers for textiles and roa fish processing.

"In the future, the cooperation will not only be for the supply of the metal industry, but also the development of IKM centers in the garment sector and other industrial human resource development programs," he said.

The collaboration initiated by the Ministry of Industry's BPSDMI with various stakeholders is claimed to be able to produce competent industrial human resources so that they can meet industry needs and continue to encourage regional potential to increase competitiveness.