He delivered the remarks at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE), BSD city, Tangerang, Banten, on Monday.
The majority of jobs are currently provided by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which include startups, he noted.
One of the startups that President Joko Widodo visited provided an example of such job creation, he said. The startup is consolidating farmers and encouraging them to take up one type of horticulture plantation to produce crops of similar size and quality, and thereby creating jobs, he added.
The government or SOEs alone cannot create jobs. In fact, the SOEs program with MSMEs and other business players can also promote job creation, he pointed out.
According to the latest research, around 70 percent of Indonesian youths are looking to become entrepreneurs, he said.
This will certainly also encourage the creation and expansion of jobs. Thus, jobs must be developed together, the minister added.
At the opening of the SOEs Startup Day on Monday, Thohir noted that assistance provided by SOE venture capital companies to startups is important for the sake of digital economy continuation.
"We have asked SOEs to not directly invest, but conduct assistance with venture capital in SOEs," he said.
SOEs have a number of venture capital firms that have invested in startups, many of which are starting to reach the unicorn stage.
Earlier, the G20 Labor and Employment Ministers’ Meeting (LEMM) produced five agreement documents.
One of the documents, Policy Recommendation on Promoting Entrepreneurship and Supporting MSMEs as a Job Creation Instrument, contains a commitment to support the expansion of inclusive and sustainable work opportunities through the development of and support for entrepreneurship and MSMEs.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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