The Ministry Of Industry Calls The Provision Of Competent Human Resources The Key To Strengthening Petrochemical Industry

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) is determined to continue to spur the development of the petrochemical industry through the provision of competent labor or human resources to meet domestic market needs, considering that the products produced can be used by other manufacturing sectors as raw materials.

The sectors that utilize petrochemical products, namely plastic, textiles, synthetic rubber, cosmetics, cleaning materials and pharmaceuticals.

"Petrochemicals are the mother of industry. This means that the petrochemical industry is the main pillar in the development of various derivative industries in Indonesia. By building a petrochemical industry, it will strengthen and deepen the manufacturing structure in Indonesia, so that it can be more competitive," said Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita as quoted from his written statement, Thursday, May 15.

Agus said that one of the strategic steps that was encouraged by his party was to support the construction of an oil refinery or refinery for upstream strengthening in the petrochemical sector because it optimizes the production of nafta which is the raw material requirement for a number of industrial sectors.

According to him, the construction of this oil refinery can support the import substitution policy as well as have a positive impact on strengthening added value and investment as well as increasing employment.

"The construction of this refinery is not only to realize the government's vision in an effort to accelerate the downstream program, but also to become a game changer in encouraging the growth of the petrochemical industry in Indonesia," he said.

Therefore, in order to support the development of the petrochemical industry, the Ministry of Industry has played an active role in providing competent and ready-to-work human resources.

This was realized through the Industrial Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDMI) which has a special vocational education unit in the field of petrochemicals, namely the Petrochemical Industry Polytechnic Banten.

The Head of BPSDMI of the Ministry of Industry Masrokhan said that this May, the Petrochemical Industrial Polytechnic of Banten again collaborated with the Chandra Asri Group in order to improve the competence of industrial human resources.

"We continue to foster new cooperation between the Ministry of Industry's vocational education unit and various partners, especially the private sector and foreign partners to improve the competence and competitiveness of national industrial human resources," he said.

The scope of cooperation to be carried out includes the preparation of a learning curriculum, provision of practicum tools, internship opportunities at the company to the presence of practitioners for teaching.

"This collaboration is carried out to create skilled human resources in the petrochemical sector in order to meet the needs of petrochemical industry personnel according to current developments," he explained.

Director of Legal, External Affairs and Circular Economy Chandra Asri Group Edi Rivai said that his party is committed to facilitating access to an applicative and industrial-oriented education, especially in the operational area of Chandra Asri Group such as Cilegon.

"Through strategic cooperation with the Petrochemical Industrial Polytechnic Banten, we hope to contribute directly to the provision of skilled workers and later can encourage industrial growth, especially the petrochemical sector," he said.

Meanwhile, Director of Industrial Polytechnic Petrokimia Banten Supardi said, the Ministry of Industry guarantees the competence and expertise of students in vocational education units through practice-based learning in accordance with industrial needs.

"Support from industrial partners such as Chandra Asri Group plays an important role in forming an industry-based curriculum, increasing teaching practitioners, facilitating student internships and providing qualified laboratory equipment as a real implementation of the link and match concept between vocational education and the petrochemical sector," he added.