Russia Opens Opportunity for Cooperation on Indonesian Migrant Worker Placement

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Russian Ambassador to Indonesia, Sergey Tolchenov, said Russia is exploring opportunities for labor cooperation with Indonesia as part of efforts to address workforce shortages amid the aging population challenges faced by several countries, including Russia. He also conveyed the issue of labor cooperation was first included in the Indonesia-Russia bilateral agenda last year and is currently still at an early exploratory stage.

According to him, the discussions are not only related to migrant worker mobility but also to Russia’s actual need for additional workers across various sectors.

"We started with our neighboring countries in Central Asia and regions close to our borders. Now, some companies are looking toward Southeast Asia, including Indonesia," Tolchenov said during a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.

He explained that Russia has established communication with Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (P2MI), and several Indonesian companies that could potentially supply workers to Russia.

Nevertheless, Tolchenov stressed that Russia understands the Indonesian government's focus on protecting the rights of migrant workers and is committed to ensuring that any form of cooperation is conducted transparently and on a clear legal basis.

According to him, such cooperation may require a stronger legal framework through bilateral agreements between governments as well as agreements between business entities.

"I believe this could become one of the most promising topics in our bilateral relations in the future," he said. On the same occasion, Russian Ambassador to ASEAN Evgeny Zagaynov said the rights and interests of migrant workers remain an important concern, even though the number of migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries in Russia is still relatively small.

According to him, ASEAN and Russia already have a cooperation framework covering migrant worker skills development and certification, recognition of competencies, and the harmonization of labor migration policies and governance.

Zagaynov added that the Vientiane Declaration serves as one of the key foundations for strengthening cooperation in this area over the next five years.

Although there is currently no specific ASEAN-Russia mechanism regarding migrant workers, he believes the issue can still be discussed through existing forums and cooperation frameworks.