Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Industry said it is strengthening the quality of industrial vocational education and training through the Master Trainer program to create competent human resources capable of supporting national industrialization and meeting industrial needs.Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, in a statement here on Tuesday, said that the manufacturing industry remains the backbone of the national economy, both in terms of its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and labor absorption.Therefore, strengthening industrial human resources based on the needs of the industrial world is a government priority.”Successful vocational education must be based on real needs in the production room through the 'link and match' principle. The Ministry of Industry is committed to building a strong dual-system ecosystem in vocational education with global standards,” the minister said.The minister noted that labor absorption in the manufacturing sector reached 20.26 million people as of August 2023.In addition, the processing industry sector was also recorded as the largest source of economic growth in early 2023.”This achievement serves as a strong foundation to continue expanding the 'link and match' program between vocational education and global job market needs,” he added.In order to strengthen the relationship between education and industry, the ministry, through the Industrial Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDMI), has collaborated with the Swiss Government through Swisscontact to implement the Swiss Skills for Competitiveness (SS4C) project.One of the implementations was the Master Trainer/In-Company Trainer (ICT) training held on May 18-25, in Jakarta.Head of BPSDMI, Doddy Rahadi, said the collaboration with Switzerland is an important step in accelerating the transfer of knowledge, industrial work culture, and innovation to increase national competitiveness.”This ICT activity plays an important role in transferring skills, guiding industry-based learning processes, and ensuring competence standards can be practically applied in the work environment,” Rahadi said.