"The government will revamp the technical services units of textile factories through the provision of textile machinery and equipment, as well as technical training for human resources," Industry Ministry Secretary-General Anshari Bukhari said here on Wednesday.
With increased competitiveness, he stated, the national textile industry would be expected to grow by 6.52 percent in 2014 and absorb as many as 216,000 people annually.
"The more workers we have, the higher will be our productivity. However, the lack of skilled human resources can hamper the competitiveness of the textile industry," Bukhari pointed out.
Total exports of non-oil and gas industry during January-September 2012 reached US$86.99 billion, down 5.25 percent from the same period last year, while textile industry exports decreased by 6.86 percent.
"The decline in the industrial sector`s growth, including in the textile industry, is caused by deteriorating trade performance, particularly in major export destinations such as Europe, United States, Japan and ASEAN countries. It is due to a slowdown in the global economy," Bukhari explained.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Textile Technology College, Noerati, said the government was committed to providing skilled human resources for the textile and textile products industry.
"The annual demand for skilled labour in the textile industry is always higher than the number of textile technology graduates," she pointed out.
Noerati stated that her college was committed to providing assistance to the government in its efforts to increase the competitiveness of the textile industry.
"Some of the targets for the industry involve increasing the number of workers by up to 13,000 per year, increasing the production capacity by 17-28 percent, increasing productivity by 7-17 percent, and improving energy efficiency by 6-8 percent," she continued.
"In order to tackle the shortage of labour in the industry, many textile companies come to our campus to recruit students," Noerati added.
(Y012/INE/B003)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
