Kepulauan Meranti Partners with CIDB Malaysia to Certify Workers

RRI.CO.ID, Selatpanjang - The Kepulauan Meranti Regency Administration in Riau Province has entered formal discussions with Malaysia’s Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to establish standardized vocational training, certification, and procedural job placement for Indonesian migrant workers (PMI).

Led by Deputy Regent Muzamil Baharudin alongside Economic Consul of the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) in Johor Bahru Siti Fauziah and CIDB Malaysia representatives, the bilateral delegation met at the Meranti Public Works and Spatial Planning (PUPR) Office on Thursday, August 20, 2026. The initiative targets the legal regulation of cross-border labor mobility across the Malacca Strait, specifically addressing the estimated 54,000 workers from Kepulauan Meranti currently employed in Malaysia, roughly 85 percent of whom migrate on tourist visas without formal skill credentials.

To transition workers away from informal status into procedural, high-demand 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) roles in Malaysian construction, plantation, and livestock sectors, the regency is upgrading its local Vocational Training Center (BLK Kepulauan Meranti) into an accredited testing hub while advocating for a Special Border Treatment (SBT) framework.

Regional administration officials and Malaysian construction development lead underscored that establishing local skill testing and certification guarantees legal protection and fair wages for Indonesian workers abroad. Kepulauan Meranti Deputy Regent Muzamil Baharudin highlighted the need to reform border worker channels through institutional compliance.

"Currently, around 85 percent of our workforce still uses tourist visas. This is what we must rectify together, workers from Meranti actually possess practical skills; it is simply a matter of proving those skills through recognized certification so they can work legally and achieve greater prosperity," Muzamil said in Selatpanjang on Thursday, August 20, 2026, as quoted by Infopublik.id.

KJRI Johor Bahru Economic Consul Siti Fauziah affirmed the diplomatic and economic advantages of synchronizing vocational standards. "How we translate the geographical, historical, and cultural proximity between both regions into mutual economic benefit remains paramount, provided it adheres to labor protection regulations," Siti Fauziah added.

CIDB Malaysia Representative Muhammad Zainal Abidin confirmed the agency's commitment to supporting local training facilities.

"CIDB strongly supports efforts to enhance worker competency, particularly in construction, we want to assist skilled workers in receiving formal competency recognition aligned with industry standards," Zainal Abidin noted. ***