Strengthen MSMEs to Anticipate the Possibility of Mass Layoffs Ahead of a Recession

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Manpower, Afriansyah Noor, is holding training for the public to open MSMEs in anticipation of mass layoffs ahead of the recession.

"With a recession or inflation hitting Europe and America, there will be massive layoffs, especially in the labor-intensive sector and Indonesia is a country that exports labor-intensive products such as shoes, footwear, garments, and textiles", said Afriansyah in Bengkulu City, Saturday 17 December.

The Ministry of Manpower and all governments at the provincial, district and city levels have prepared Vocational Training Centers (BLK) to train people's abilities to become MSME entrepreneurs.

The construction of BLK throughout Indonesia is under the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, namely 34 BLK or Central Technical Implementation Units (UPTP) in 34 provinces.

"The president's target is to focus on building 34 BLK or UPTP under the Ministry of Manpower outside the four newly formed provinces", he said.

With the training and the community opening MSMEs and growing, the community's economy will remain stable despite the mass layoffs ahead of the recession.

Previously, Afriansyah reviewed the development of the BLK to become a national-scale UPTP located in Panorama Village, Bengkulu City.

"We are reviewing the preparation location for the large UPTP BLK from the Ministry of Manpower, where his party has collaborated with Bengkulu Province to jointly build BLK", he explained.

He said that the construction of the UPTP BLK Bengkulu for the benefit of the people in Bengkulu Province, even though it is on a national scale, the UPTP will prioritize the people of Bengkulu.

Meanwhile, Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah said that the Bengkulu Provincial Government had prepared 2.3 hectares of land for the construction of UPTP BLK in Panorama Village and 6 hectares of supporting land in the Air Sebakul area.