JAKARTA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia, one of the world's largest providers of migrant workers, plans to send at least 425,000 workers abroad in 2025, expecting to boost the economy by 0.52 percent from the potential foreign exchange earnings, Minister of Migrant Worker Protection Abdul Kadir Karding said on Monday.
"This year, we have decided to increase the target so that the Indonesian migrant workers can optimally utilize existing job opportunities abroad and contribute to the national economy," Karding told reporters in Jakarta.
He mentioned that in 2024, Indonesia sent 297,000 migrant workers abroad, which brought foreign exchange earnings of 251 trillion rupiahs (15.5 billion U.S. dollars) and helped drive economic growth by around 0.36 percent.
"Sending migrant workers has also helped reduce the unemployment rate by 3.98 percent from a total of 7.47 million unemployed recorded in 2024," said Karding.
