"Indonesia and Austria signed an MoU on the 'Recruitment of Professional and Skilled Workers' last May," Marsudi said, according to a written statement released by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry in Jakarta on Wednesday.
During the discussion on cooperation in education and capacity development, Marsudi highlighted cooperation in the recruitment of professional and skilled Indonesian workers in Austria, which she described as very beneficial for Indonesian citizens.
Austria, she said, is currently facing the challenge of a labor shortage and as per estimates, it will need to hire around 15 thousand workers from non-European union countries by 2027.
For that reason, Marsudi encouraged the immediate realization of the cooperation to open access to the Austrian labor market for skilled workers from Indonesia.
"I also appreciate Austria's support worth 40 million euros for the construction of vocational training centers in Medan, Serang, and Makassar," she said.
Marsudi and Schallenberg also welcomed the intensification of higher education cooperation between the two countries through the Indonesia-Austria Scholarship Program (IASP), the ASEAN-European Academic University Network program, and the Endowment Fund for Education Agency (LPDP).
The two ministers also agreed to renew and expand educational cooperation by including new cooperative elements, such as training for teachers, language classes, student internship programs, and dual degree programs.
The two ministers also agreed to explore tourism cooperation, especially to build sustainable tourism.
"Austria has indicated an interest in bringing in skilled workers in the tourism and hospitality sectors," Marsudi said.
Another collaboration discussed at the meeting was people-to-people contact cooperation. Marsudi further said that she and Austria welcome the implementation of the 8th Indonesia-Austria Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue (IAID) in Bandung in July 2024.
The dialogue will discuss the issues of climate change and women, and ways to reduce gaps between religious communities.
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Translator: Katriana, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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