JAPAN NEEDS SEVERAL THOUSAND CONSTRUCTION WORKERS FOR 2020 OLYMPICS PREPARATIONS

Jakarta, May 12 (Antara) - The Japanese government has sought Indonesia's help to send more construction workers for the preparations of the 2020 Olympics and the renovation of damaged buildings and facilities after the earthquake struck the country in 2011. "We will meet the Japanese government and urge them to send more engineering and ship construction workers. We agree to cooperate in the re-entry program to send our workers to Japan," Minister of Employment M. Hanif Dhakiri remarked here, Monday. The re-entry program commenced on April 1, 2015 and will continue until March 31, 2021. According to Dhakiri, the program will improve the competency and skills of Indonesian workers, and hence, they will be able to establish their own businesses. The working program with Japan is part of the cooperation between the Indonesian Ministry Of Employment and Japan International Manpower Development of Medium and Small Enterprises (IMM) that was established in 1993. Dhakiri stated that the re-entry program is applicable to those who have completed the working program in Japan within three years, but more specifically, for the ex-workers in the fields of engineering and ship construction in Japan. The working program aims to improve the quality of human resources in the face of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) 2015. "One main benefit for Indonesian workers to work in Japan is that they will become more professional in their fields, and so, they will be able to compete in the global market," Dhakiri pointed out. In 2015, the Indonesian Ministry of Employment expects to send 2.5 thousand workers to be employed in about 500 companies operating in 60 sectors. Until January 2015, as many as 35,426 workers have departed for Japan.