REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Penitentiaries can function as the training grounds to foster creativity and inspiration among the inmates to likely create new entrepreneurs, Industry Minister Saleh Husin stated while opening the "Prisoners Featured Products Exhibition 2016."

"New entrepreneurs are expected to have a positive impact on their social environment after undergoing a period of self-coaching in prisons," Industry Minister Husin remarked while inaugurating the exhibition at the Ministry of Industry Plaza here on Tuesday.

The minister affirmed that the programs to develop the skills of inmates were expected to promote de-radicalization in prisons. The programs are part of the efforts to bring about self-improvement.

In the implementation of the penitentiary system, Saleh noted that imposing criminal penalties and imprisonment should not be the sole focus, but emphasis should instead be laid on personality development and self-reliance to ensure social reintegration of the inmates when they returned to their communities.

According to the minister, financial difficulties were one of the causes of crimes in various regions in Indonesia.

"Social inequality can compel an individual to break the rules of law for the sake of meeting one's needs," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Minister Husin lauded the exhibition titled "Creativity Without Limits Even in Restricted Site."

The fourth exhibition was jointly organized by the Directorate General of Small and Medium Industries of the Ministry of Industry and Directorate General of Penitentiary of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The exhibition is being held on April 19-22, 2016, from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (West Indonesia Standard Time).

The minister hoped the exhibition would be able to reflect the positive outcomes of coaching the inmates to become independent and skilled individuals, so that penitentiaries would be viewed as institutions that harness creativity.

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