Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The governments of the Republic of Indonesia and the Swiss Federal Council signed an agreement on the exchange of young professionals on November 30, 2021 at the Bundeshaus West, Bern, Switzerland.

The signing was witnessed by Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland Muliaman Hadad along with representatives from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade and the Director of Manpower at the National Development Planning Agency.

This agreement is a follow-up to the comprehensive economic partnership negotiations between Indonesia and the European Free Trade Association (Indonesia-EFTA CEPA) which were signed in 2018 and then finalized in 2019.

The cooperation agreement allows the two countries to open up their labor market for young professionals aged 18-35 years old to work in all sectors, both in Indonesia and Switzerland, by considering regulations, especially regarding foreign workers, that apply in each country.

Placements are made on a quota basis of a maximum of 50 young professionals every year under an employment contract between employers and workers. This scheme has been implemented by the Swiss government with 14 partner countries, one of which is Indonesia.

The bilateral agreement expands job opportunities for Indonesian human resources to work abroad with a fairly good job protection system in terms of wages, employment, and industrial relations between employers and workers.

The agreement with Switzerland is also expected to reduce Indonesia's unemployment rate, improve people's living standards, and accelerate national economic growth.

"We hope that this will be the initial milestone for the opening of a cooperation scheme for the placement of Indonesian workers in partner countries in the European region," Director General of Manpower Placement Development at the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower, Suhartono, said.

He added that the two countries would later discuss the technical aspects of the agreement.

The Indonesia-EFTA CEPA officially took effect on November 1, 2021 and it is expected that the implementation of the Young Professional program would bring about maximum impacts on both parties, Ambassador Muliaman Hadad said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window