Increase Remitance, Minister Karding Asks Southeast Minahasa Regent To Increase Citizen Competency

Minister of P2MI Abdul Kadir Karding (left second)

JAKARTA - Minister of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (P2MI) Abdul Kadir Karding advised local governments to provide training on increasing skills for their citizens who want to work abroad. The goal is to achieve a maximum increase in remittance.

This was conveyed when receiving an audience from the Regent of Southeast Minahasa, Ronald Kandoli, along with the ranks of the Southeast Minahasa Regency Government, North Sulawesi, at the Ministry of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (KemenaP2MI) office, Jakarta, Tuesday, June 24.

"Try to imagine Mr. Regent, one training, you can take two children in one village. Assume that one year there are three batches, how many hundreds of people can be sent abroad?" said Karding.

According to him, when an area can maximize the desire of its citizens to work abroad procedurally, spontaneously the income entering the area will increase.

The relevant real evidence is that Bumi Daya Village in South Lampung has been felt, with 250 residents registered as migrant workers in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

With an income per person of Rp. 15-20 million per month, Karding said they could send cross-border money to their families in Bumi Daya Village or remittances reaching Rp. 500 million per month. This commitment has a significant impact on the village economy or an area.

"Anyone wants to charge Rp500 million to be rotated in that village. The country alone is not strong, it's only Rp1 billion for one year. Because they manage it seriously. If we imitate and apply it in Southeast Minahasa, I'm sure we can," said Karding.

Therefore, Karding hopes that the Regent of Southeast Minahasa can capture the benefits that have been felt by Bumi Daya Village by intensifying socialization to become procedural migrant workers in schools, campuses and polytechnics in their area.

"I want the local government to collaborate with us (KemenP2MI), so that poverty in villages can be eradicated and the village economy and families can be strengthened," said Karding.

Responding to this, the Regent of Southeast Minahasa revealed that so far more than a thousand of its citizens have been registered as prospective migrant workers in Japan through the 2025 speciefied Skilled Worker (SSW) program.

In addition, the Regent of Southeast Minahasa is also targeting each village in his area to send workers abroad so that it can trigger village growth and contribute to the number of placements of migrant workers that have been targeted by Minister Karding.

"The enthusiasm of the citizens is very large. The community wants the availability of jobs. Therefore, the local government wants the placement of migrant workers through SSW to be carried out immediately," he said.