Anindya Bakrie: Kadin’s Push to Upgrade Skills of Indonesian Migrant Workers

Jakarta, VIVA – Anindya Bakrie, Chairman of Indonesia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), openly shared the reasons why Kadin included a training program for Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) as one of their four quick-win initiatives, with a prototype to be developed before August 17, 2025.

He explained three main reasons, the first one is migrant workers are not just domestic helpers. They also include skilled professionals such as nurses, restaurant and hotel staff, bankers, and engineers.

"Migrant workers are not just housemaids; they include professionals like nurses, restaurant and hotel workers, bankers, and engineers," Bakrie said on Monday (May 19).

Therefore, increasing the number of skilled migrant workers through Kadin’s professional training programs will create many job opportunities.

He added that there are over one million job vacancies abroad in countries friendly to Indonesia that need skilled workers.

The second one is about the training program will bring more foreign exchange to Indonesia.

Currently, out of 5 million Indonesian migrant workers, 80% are domestic workers, generating around IDR 225 trillion in foreign exchange.

Bakrie is optimistic that training more professional migrant workers will increase the foreign exchange income for Indonesia.

Last, this program is a key step toward Indonesia’s golden future. With the demographic bonus, Indonesia can have a workforce that is not only skilled but also experienced.

Many workers will gain overseas experience and then return to Indonesia, which is the hope behind this initiative.

"This is why training migrant workers is one of Kadin Indonesia’s quick wins." Bakrie concluded.