Semarang, Central Java, ABIM (23/10/2023) – On Wednesday (10/18), August 17 (Untag) in Semarang, Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), Mohammad Zainal Fatah, attended the Diploma/Bachelor’s/Master’s/Doctoral Graduation Ceremony and delivered a speech.

On this occasion, Zainal Fatah said that in the future, infrastructure development will continue to accomplish a Golden Indonesia 2045 and so that Indonesia can get out of the middle income trap. Moreover, Indonesia has the advantage of a demographic dividend, namely that the population of productive age is greater than the population of non-productive age.

According to Zainal Fatah, the Ministry of PUPR completed various infrastructure developments between 2015 and 2022, with the community getting the benefits, including the construction of 36 dams, 1.1 million hectares of new irrigation networks, 1,809 km of toll roads, 92% access to adequate drinking water, and 7.9 million homes through the Million Homes Program.

The primary objectives of the PUPR Ministry until 2024 are the completion of infrastructure development projects, the implementation of OPOR (Operation, Maintenance, Optimisation, and Rehabilitation), and the development of infrastructure to support the Indonesian Capital City.

In addition to physical infrastructure development, the government’s highest priority program is the cultivation of competent human resources. Human resources in the infrastructure industry is one of them.

“Currently, Indonesia still needs a lot of engineers because the ratio of engineering graduates in Indonesia is still 5,300 per 1 million population, this figure is below Korea’s 25 thousand per 1 million population and Vietnam’s 9,000 per 1 million population,” added Zainal Fatah.

In conclusion, Zainal Fatah emphasized to the graduates the potential for them to embody an unwavering determination upon entering the professional field.(ABIM)