Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia’s Minister of Investment (BKPM) Rosan Roeslani confirmed that one of the critical challenges in driving the investment climate in Indonesia is the low quality of the national human resources. This phenomenon enhances investors’ doubts about pouring their capital into the archipelago.
Rosan explained, “The total Indonesian workforce is around 134 million to 135 million people. Based on the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower’s data, 40% of the total workforce only graduated from elementary school, while 24% of them did not graduate.”
He added that only 18% of the total workforce in Indonesia graduated from high school, while only 12% to 13% of the workforce enrolled in university.
Rosan affirmed that this challenge remains becomes homework for the Government. For this reason, the authority has prepared several measures to boost the quality of human capital in Indonesia.
“We strive to carry out upskilling and reskilling to create productive, excellent workforces,” added Rosan.
According to Rosan, the Ministry of Investment presents Supertax Deduction of up to 200% for companies who are interested to invest in Indonesia and develop the capability of Indonesian human capital. The ministry also has prepared tax incentive of up to 30% for any research and development activities carried out by the company in Indonesia.
“Every company that participates in a vocational program, a training program, or other education agendas, organized by government institutions or private sectors, will obtain a tax incentive of 200%,” conveyed Rosan.
However, he said that many companies lack information concerning this incentive. Meanwhile, this program was regulated in the latest workforce regulation, known as omnibus law.
“In fact, a lot of companies have no idea about this initiative, thus this incentive is not well-socialized. The Government also continues to encourage this because the enhancement of human resources capability becomes a critical key (to drive investment),” Rosan concluded.