DIRECTOR GENERAL OF TRAINING AND PRODUCTIVITY DEVELOPMENT, MINISTRY OF MANPOWER AND TRANSMIGRATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

WELCOMING SPEECH OF THE DG FOR THE OPENING SESSION OF THE THE WORKING GROUP ON HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT, INDONESIA-MALAYSIATHAILAND GROWTH TRIANGLE (IMT-GT) The Sultan Hotel Jakarta, 22-23 September 2011

WGHRD IMTGT Head delegates from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, His Excellency Minister of Manpower and Transmigration of The Republic of Indonesia His Excellency, Malaysian and Thai Ambassadors or representatives from the Malaysian and Thailand embassies, Representatives of the Joint Business Council from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand

Chairman of SOM Indonesia for sub regional economic cooperation, who is also an advisor of the Minister of Economic Coordination, specifically for innovation and technology Distinguished delegates of the Working Group on Human Resources Development of IMT-GT from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, Distinguished high officials from the Ministry of Manpower and transmigration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Works, National Professional Certification Board, BAPPEDA from Sumatera, Local Government of Manpower and also KADINDA from Sumatera,

Ladies and gentlemen, Assalamualaikum wr.wb, Good morning and may all of us be blessed today,

Gratitude we pray to God the Almighty for mercy and guidance so that we can gather here to attend the Working Group on Human Resources Development for the sub regional economic cooperation forum of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

This WGHRD IMT-GT is the follow up of the SOM IMT-GT 2010 in Krabi Thailand, which has approved the Indonesian proposal from South Sumatera to become the host of the WGHRD IMT-GT Meeting on 2011.

However in the end the meeting had to be moved to Jakarta, having the flying conditions to and from Sumatera in mind which are quite often not reliable, because of the ash clouds in the Sumatera region. Moreover, because a lot of events in Palembang are occupied with the preparation of the ASEAN Games in

Palembang. On behalf of The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigraton, the organizer of this event I would like to apologize to Malaysia and Thailand for the inconvenience of informing you late about the change of the meeting location. I believe that this will not influence our spirit to discuss the development of WGHRD IMTGT. His excellency the Minister of MoMT Ladies and gentlemen, The purpose of the sub regional economic cooperation of IMT-GT is to improve trade and investments, the export of the member countries, peoples welfare, and also an increase of production, distribution and transaction. The IMT-GT members consist of 10 provinces in Sumatera; the 8 countries that are part of Malaysia are Perak, Penan, Kedah, Perlis, Selangor, Kelantan, Melaka, and Negara Sembilan, and also the 8 countries of Thailand that are Yala, Patani, Songkhla, Narathiwat, Satun, Trang, Phattalung and also Nakhon Sri Thamarat.

The aim of this meeting is to discuss the cooperation of human resources development within the IMT-GT framework, which is to empower the business council as the engine of growth. In this context the role of the government as the facilitator and regulator will support the implementation of cooperation among IMT countries. The agenda of this meeting is aimed at empowering the cooperation on HRD between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in IMT-GT. The Director General of Training and Productivity development from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration as the representative of this meeting will facilitate these coming days of WGHRD, which will end with a study trip to the VTC Cevest Bekasi. Thus as a conclusion to what I have just expressed, thank you for your attention and the support of the minister for the entire delegation of participants that are joining this WGHRD IMT-GT meeting. I wish you a fruitful WGHRD IMT-GT meeting. Thank you Wabilahitaufiq wal hidayah. Wassalamualaikum wr.wb.

Director General of Training and Productivity Development,

Abdul Wahab Bangkona