VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir has said that skilled and competent human resources can be one of the keys to help Indonesia avoid the middle-income trap.

“To develop a knowledge-based economy, Indonesia must have highly skilled, competent, and technology savvy human resources," he remarked at an online seminar on ‘Millennials Upgrade Week,’ accessed from here on Tuesday.

These abilities are required to help the younger generation to encourage the economic development of Indonesia so that the country does not get caught in the middle-income trap, he added.

Hence, in addition to optimizing the utilization of natural resources, the human resource potential must also be honed -- especially since Indonesia will reap a demographic bonus in the next few years.

The minister noted that when the demographic bonus occurs, 70 percent of Indonesia's population will consist of millennials and Generation Z.

"Generation Z is a productive age, hence we have to change our future economic strategy to not only depend on natural resources, but also to develop a knowledge-based economy, which is generated by innovation and human resources’ capability," he said.

Furthermore, as a nation, Indonesia has dreams and hopes, especially that the country will commemorate its 100th anniversary of independence in 2045, he added.

"In 2045, Indonesia is predicted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a country with the fourth-largest economy in the world. It must be realized," he emphasized.

Hence, all parties must ensure the implementation of efforts toward realizing the dream, he added. Thus, the potential of great economic power must be pursued by establishing a new development road map.

Earlier, at the same event, President Joko Widodo had also emphasized that the Indonesian younger generation must have superior financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills to improve their productivity in the future.  (antaranews)