Bamsoet Urges The Minister Of Economy To Act Quickly To Overcome Indonesia's Unemployment

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet). (Doc. Ist)

JAKARTA The surge in Indonesia's unemployment rate has returned to the spotlight. Deputy Chairperson of the Golkar Party as well as Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet), urged the ministers in the economic sector to act immediately. He assessed that the slow response of the government could trigger a deeper social crisis, especially since the majority of unemployed came from productive age groups.

"The state cannot be passive. Every year millions of new workforces appear. Economic ministers must be proactive, sit down together, and immediately draw up a solution policy to curb unemployment," said Bamsoet in Jakarta, Saturday (10/5/2025).

Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Bamsoet said the number of unemployed in February 2025 reached 7.28 million people. This number increased compared to the previous year, although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report recorded Indonesia's unemployment rate fell from 5.2% to 5%.

"The macroeconomic figure is indeed improving, but reality on the ground says otherwise. This inequality should be a serious concern," he said.

Bamsoet emphasized that economic growth should not only rely on large investments that are often hampered by the bureaucracy. The government needs to restore economic resilience from below, one of which is through strengthening the MSME sector.

MSMEs are the backbone of the people's economy. When the crisis hit, they remained standing and absorbing tens of millions of workers. What is needed now is a concrete policy to revive MSME productivity," said Bamsoet.

He also highlighted the trade policy which was considered to have weakened MSMEs. One of them is the massive entry of cheap imported products that trigger dumping practices in the domestic market.

"When MSMEs are hit by dumping products and go bankrupt, termination of employment will be a logical consequence. The government must immediately close import loopholes that harm domestic producers," he said.

Bamsoet also gave a strong warning: public voices can no longer be ignored. When the threat of unemployment targets vulnerable groups, policies can no longer be normative.

"Don't wait for statistics to become a disaster. This is the time to act quickly. The government must take sides with the real sector that really supports the people," he concluded