Indonesia should be able to dominate ASEAN`s construction market when the AEC comes into force.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia needs to increase the number of engineers in the country as the ratio of this figure to the total population is still lower than that of neighboring countries.

"Indonesia is a great country, but has a poor number of engineers. The total number of engineers in the country is the lowest among member states of the ASEAN," Head of the Construction Expertise Improvement Office Doedoeng Arifin said here on Tuesday.

According to data obtained from the Ministry of Public Works and Peoples Housing, in every group of million Indonesians, only 3.038 persons are engineers.

"It is a very small figure as compared to that of Singapore, where 28.235 persons in every group of million are engineers," Arifin revealed.

Although the number of Indonesian engineers registered with the ACPE (ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineers) is the highest among ASEAN member countries, they do not meet standard quality requirements.

Indonesian stakeholders should encourage efforts to increase this proportion and the ability of engineers, especially in the face of the ASEAN Economy Community (AEC) in 2015.

Acting director general of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Public Works and Peoples Housing, Hediyanto W. Husaini, noted that the Indonesian construction market should be controlled by national contractors.

According to him, a country can be developed if the infrastructure and various important construction projects are overseen by its own power and human resources.

Moreover, the construction sector, which overlaps with the economy sector, has an average growth rate of some 7 percent per year.

Also, Indonesia should be able to dominate ASEANs construction market when the AEC comes into force.

"With experience in Middle Eastern countries, Africa, Timor-Leste, and other ASEAN countries, I am sure that Indonesian construction companies and workers will be able to compete at the international level," Husaini affirmed.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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