Magelang, Central Java (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s demographic bonus must be utilized for the benefit of national development, according to Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah.
"We will receive a demographic bonus; Indonesia's population will be dominated by (people in the) productive age. This bonus must be used for the benefit of national development," she stressed in Magelang, Central Java, on Friday.
She made the remarks at the opening of the Regional Conference of IPNU and IPPNU Regional Leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama Student Association and the Nahdlatul Ulama Female Student Association of Central Java province at the API Syubbanul Waton Islamic Boarding School, Magelang.
According to her, IPNU and IPPNU, which are in their productive age, can become a driving force for national development.
Therefore, IPNU and IPPNU must prepare themselves in a changing world, especially the changing world of employment, by preparing skills and competencies according to needs. Through these steps, the demographic bonus will bring benefits for national development, she added.
"Because they are in productive age, they must be equipped to enter the job market with skills and competencies that are suitable or prepare them to become entrepreneurs," Fauziyah disclosed.
In addition, IPNU and IPPNU are also encouraging their cadres to contribute to national and state development, she informed.
"Of course, this contribution is planned and prepared with all seriousness by IPNU and IPPNU, that is why they never stop to have new cadres. Not only cadre within the NU environment but cadre for the greater interest, namely the interests of the nation and state," she said.
The minister also praised the theme of the regional conference, “Empowered Students to Seize Golden Indonesia 2045.”
"They are even thinking about Golden Indonesia 2045 as part of their activity," she added.
Fauziyah noted that in 2045, Indonesia will enter its 100th-year existence as a state.
"The golden Indonesia that we envision and design together is Indonesia as the largest country in the world with economic power contributing to bringing the country as the third-largest economic power in the world," she added.