Jakarta, March 15 -- Minister of Manpower Yassierli highlighted the importance of increasing national productivity to strengthen the nation's competitiveness amid tight global competition.

"Productivity is a major challenge for us right now. In the last ten years, our productivity growth has only been 25 percent, while China has reached 220 percent," he noted in an official statement released in Jakarta on Saturday.

The minister revealed that Indonesia's productivity level remains 10 percent, below the average of Southeast Asian countries. In fact, Indonesia's Total Factor Productivity has recorded a decline.

"This means our ability to produce products, services, and offering effectively and efficiently is still lagging behind other co...