Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah discussed labor cooperation with Australian Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O’Connor, on the sidelines of the 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Wednesday.

During the bilateral meeting in Singapore, Fauziyah broached several areas of cooperation in the field of employment within the framework of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), whose progress has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and change in leadership in Australia.

The cooperation includes a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Workplace-Based Training and an MoU on a Skills Development Exchange Pilot Project.

"We would like to have further discussions with the Australian government, in particular, to facilitate the availability of information regarding the eligible sponsor list so that we can follow up on and implement the MoU on Workplace-Based Training," the Indonesian minister said in a statement released by the Manpower Ministry on Thursday.

According to Fauziyah, the eligible sponsor list is very important for Indonesia to ease the supervision and protection of Indonesian apprentices in Australia.

She said she hopes that Australia, under the leadership of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, will provide support in the form of access to information on the Workplace-Based Training (WBT) program so that the monitoring, supervision, and protection of Indonesian apprentices can be guaranteed.

"We also hope to strengthen cooperation with the Australian government in the field of skills development and training in various sectors to increase the competitiveness and competence of the Indonesian workforce before they enter the world of work," she added.

She further informed that Indonesia and Australia had discussed a placement program for Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) in the agricultural sector, and the discussion on an MoU on Australian Agricultural Visa (AAV) and the agreement’s drafting had entered the final stages.

However, due to changes in leadership in Australia, the visa program for the agricultural sector was terminated before it could be signed with the Indonesian government.

"We hope that the Australian government can reopen this program to be able to follow up on the MoU on AAV or open other opportunities that can open up job opportunities for Indonesian citizens, both in the agricultural, fisheries, forestry, and other sectors," the minister said. (Antaranews)