Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesia Manpower Ministry expects cooperation with Malaysia and Thailand in exchanging online labor market information systems would create a more competitive workforce, boost mobility, and improve the efficiency of the labor market in strengthening connectivity.

This aspiration was echoed by Secretary General of the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry Khairul Anwar in his remarks read out by Expert Staff in the field of International Relations Cooperation Suhartono while opening an event "Workshop on Increasing Indonesia's Role in Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand-Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Cooperation: Evaluation and Action Continued Project Working Group on Human Resources Development, Education, and Culture (WG HRD-EC) Indonesia" in Palembang.

"The exchange of labor market information will help the three countries to fill the gap in the sub-regional job market so that labor migration will be on target in line with the needs and availability of labor," Suhartono noted in a press release in Jakarta on Friday.

Suhartono remarked that the IMT-GT cooperation was not new but endorsed the 2017-2021 Implementation Blueprint (IB).

The government has two projects -- the Vocational Training Center Networking (VTC-NET) and the Labor Market Information System (LMIS) -- to realize the IB.

Currently, work training institutions were being revitalized to improve regional human resources in a focused, substantial manner and enhance the integrated labor market information service in three countries, as a concrete manifestation of labor mobilization in the sub-regional region.

"We also appeal to the regional government to play an active role in supporting the implementation of the two projects in question and provide proposals for new projects that can be implemented according to IB 2017-2021," Suhartono stated.

The IMT-GT is a sub-regional economic cooperation initiative formed by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in 1993, deemed strategic in boosting the economy of the border region between the three nations.

The focus of the IMT-GT cooperation is on the 10 provinces of Banda Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau Islands, South Sumatra, Riau, Babylon, Jambi, Bengkulu, and Lampung.

"The EC-HRD working group is expected to positively contribute to the IMT-GT cooperation through more concrete and beneficial activities for Indonesia," Suhartono added. * Related news: Jokowi calls on ASEAN to make IMT-GT a building block

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Translator: Aubrey, Eliswan Azly
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
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