Indonesia to create 1.2 million jobs by 2029

Indonesia’s Minister of Creative Economy, in partnership with the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment, has announced plans to generate 1.2 million new jobs in the sector between 2025 and 2029. 

Creative Economy Minister Teuku Riefky Harsya said the strategy hinges on strengthening professionalism in Indonesia’s creative economy subsectors, encouraging entrepreneurship, and linking the creative sector’s outputs to wider economic opportunities. 

In a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar, on Tuesday, Harsya said his ministry will also collaborate with other government ministries to launch joint programmes, such as creative training initiatives with the Social Affairs Ministry and the Red and White Village Cooperatives of the Ministry of Cooperatives. Partnerships with the Ministry of MSMEs and the Ministry of Trade to train new entrepreneurs.

"The Ministry of Creative Economy also targets direct contributions through the creation of quality jobs to support inclusive and sustainable growth," Harsya told the Antara news agency.

In the same statement, Minister Iskandar said their partnership is intended to provide opportunities to bolster the nation’s economic growth.

"The dynamics of data will be a priority to make a well-targeted program. We also continue to address issues, particularly those related to unemployment, to create new jobs, both in rural and urban areas," he said.

Iskandar also noted that the partnership is meant to boost job creation in urban and rural parts of the country and improve overseas labour placement systems to expand employment opportunities.

The Ministry of Manpower also announced programmes to train productivity coaches and experts, upgrade vocational centres, and revise national competency standards to align with industry demands. 

Manpower Minister Yassierli said these initiatives are being implemented to boost the country’s productivity, whose current levels lag behind those of its Southeast Asian neighbors. Productivity, he added, must rise to achieve the government’s Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision, which aims to turn the country into one of the world’s top five largest economies by its centennial anniversary.