President Halimah Yacob at Singapore International Foundation's (SIF) occupational therapy session for those with special needs, in Jakarta, yesterday. LIANHE ZAOBAO/THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE)/ANN
Partnerships between Singapore and Indonesia to develop human resources have allowed both countries to reap economic benefits, said President Halimah Yacob on Wednesday.
Speaking to 60 educators at a workshop organised by the Indonesian Ministry of Industry and Singapore Polytechnic, Madam Halimah reiterated Singapore’s commitment to strengthening cooperation with Indonesia to improve the capabilities of its workers.
She noted that Singapore and Indonesia have signed more than 20 agreements to conduct training programmes that will help thousands of Indonesian officials and trainers scale up and better meet the demands of an ever-changing digital economy.
“Our two countries share a common objective of ensuring that our citizens are not just well prepared for technological disruptions brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but also well positioned to reap the benefits they bring to our peoples, industries and economies,” the president said at the workshop held in the Ministry of Industry in Jakarta.
“Singapore and Indonesia recognise that our workers need to be equipped with the relevant skills so that they can adapt and seize the opportunities brought about by these technological advancements.”
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said the workshop was part of an initiative to train educators on Industry 4.0, which is a new phase in the Industrial Revolution that focuses on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning and real-time data.
The initiative will help improve the capabilities of Indonesian polytechnic staff to develop and implement training courses to meet the manpower needs of Industry 4.0.
At the workshop, Indonesian Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita thanked Singapore for its support in training workers.
He said: “We hope this great relationship with Singapore can continue with increasing numbers of educational and training cooperation programmes to improve our industrial human resources in the future.”
Trade and investment ties between Singapore and Indonesia are close, with total trade amounting to $65 billion in 2018, a 9.4 per cent rise over the previous year.
Singapore has also been Indonesia’s top foreign investor for the past six years.
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE)/ANN
