REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia hopes that investment from China will help to reduce unemployment in the country.

"We wish to boost investment from abroad to help support economic growth as well as create new jobs to reduce unemployment in Indonesia," Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri said in a press statement issued by his office's public relations bureau received here on Thursday.

Minister Dhakiri held a bilateral meeting with Deputy Manpower Minister of China Kong Changsehg on the sidelines of an International Labor Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday evening local time to discuss investment cooperation between the two countries.

He added that to boost economic growth, the Indonesian government will not only need investment in capital-intensive sectors but in labor-intensive sectors, as well, to benefit workers and job-seekers more.

According to the Central Statistics Bureau, unemployment in Indonesia till February 2015 reached 7.4 million.

The Indonesian government has set a target of creating two million new jobs every year to expedite the reduction of unemployment.

Investment from home and abroad is needed to create more jobs in various sectors.

"With an increasing flow of investment, it is hoped that there will be more jobs and transfer of technology, knowledge, and expertise for Indonesian workers," the minister remarked.

Cooperation between Indonesia and China has been developed well so far, and it is hoped that it can be taken advantage of to promote cooperation in the manpower sector, he noted.

"Besides investment, we have also invited China to increase cooperation in the manpower sector, including in vocational training, productivity improvement, research, manpower information, industrial relations and manpower supervision," Dhakiri pointed out.

Moreover, Chinese Deputy Manpower Minister Kong Changseng has expressed his commitment to increase cooperation with the Indonesian government, especially in the manpower sector.

China has been one of the five largest foreign investors in Indonesia, while diplomatic relations between the two nations have gone well for the past 65 years.

China is also one of Indonesia's strategic partners, especially in infrastructure development.

At present, most Chinese investments in Indonesia are in power and mining smelter development projects.

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