Abu Dhabi: The number of Indonesian skilled workers and professionals in the UAE has increased by 30 per cent in the past five years.
The improved profile of the Indonesian community in the UAE is an indicator of educational and economic progress achieved by Indonesia in recent years, according to a top Indonesian diplomat.
“We celebrate that progress also on the 67th Indonesian Independence Day,”Salman Al Farisi, Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE, told Gulf News.
He said that out of 94,000 Indonesians in the UAE, 45 per cent are skilled workers and professionals while 55 per cent are unskilled workers including household service workers.
In 2007, Indonesian Embassy officials had told Gulf News that about 85 per cent of the community members were unskilled workers then. Indonesia has a adopted a policy of discouraging the migration of unskilled workers and the increasing demand for Indonesian professionals in the UAE proves the policy has worked, the ambassador said.
“Several Indonesian skilled and professional people were recruited recently for the airport expansion project in Dubai,” Al Farisi said.
The ambassador hoisted the Indonesian flag at an event to celebrate the country’s Independence Day on Friday at the Indonesia Embassy in Abu Dhabi in the presence of about 200 community members.
The declaration of proclamation, five principles of Indonesia (Pancasila), were read out and a chorus group composed of 18 community members sang Indonesian patriotic songs.
The ambassador recalled that 67 years ago Indonesia’s founding fathers, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, proclaimed the independence of Indonesia on August 17, 1945.
He told Gulf News that on Independence Day Indonesians are celebrating their country’s economic resilience also, on the backdrop of a financial crisis in the Eurozone and elsewhere in the world.
In the first quarter of the year, Indonesia has achieved an economic growth rate of 6.4 per cent whereas some major countries recorded zero or even negative growth rate, Al Farisi pointed out.
Two days before Independence Day, the Ambassador and his wife, Umi Al Farisi and embassy staff visited Al Wathba and Al Ain prison to greet Indonesians who are unable celebrate the Independence Day.
Meanwhile in Dubai, Acting Indonesian ConsuI-General Heru Sudrajat led the hoisting of the national flag at the consulate premises in Al Hudaiba to celebrate their country’s independence. Around 400 Indonesian expatriates joined the celebrations, where an iftar was shared later in the evening.
Also part of the celebration was the final round for the competition on reading the Quran.
