VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto expressed hope that representatives from the G20 members who join the Youth 20 or Y20 forum could help bolster an inclusive economic recovery.

“We expect that as a forum for our future leaders, the Y20 can support G20 for strengthening social and economic ties among young people across the G20 to recover together,” Hartarto remarked during the Y20 Indonesia kick off meeting held virtually here on Saturday.

The Y20 refers to an official consultation platform for young people from all G20 countries to be able to discuss various agenda.

Hartarto said he is confident that the Y20's priority programs in creating jobs for young people and establishing a diverse and inclusive world could prevent them from the negative impacts of ongoing COVID-19.

“Young people's voices are the future voices, and they are important. Through the advocacy for the young people, we can prevent the long-term impacts caused by COVID-19, such as lower productivity, unemployment, and malnutrition,” he said.

Then, in the midst of tougher digitalization-related challenges due to the pandemic, the young people are demanded not to only become Internet users. Instead, they are also urged to be able to partake in the web-based innovation, he said.

Meeting the challenges of job markets and implementing the Industry 4.0 are among the issues that need to be prioritized, he said.

“It is important that the allocation of natural resources will also play a major role in the near future. Hence, structural transformation and enhancing more skills for the youth are important so that they can adjust to future jobs,” he noted. (AntaranewS)