REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has asked the public to not believe in rumors on the alleged influx of foreign workers into the country.

Concerns over the presence of foreign workers was exaggerated and not proportional, and it could become contra-productive to the government's effort to attract foreign investors, BKPM Chief Thomas Trikasih Lembong stated here, Thursday.

The percentage of foreign workers is around 0.1 percent of the total workers in Indonesia, which is miniscule compared to the more than 20 percent in Singapore, and over 5 percent in Malaysia and Thailand, he noted.

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As a large nation, the Indonesian people should not be afraid of the presence of foreign workers in the country, he added. "Meanwhile, there are 6.5 million Indonesian migrant workers working overseas who are facing the competition there. So, we should be able to compete in our own country. It does not make sense. Does it?" he said.

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Foreign workers are needed at the early stages of foreign investment projects; gradually, in the third or fourth phases of the projects, they will be replaced by local workers, he explained. The country's realized investment target in 2016 was Rp594.8 trillion, and is expected to absorb 1.25 million Indonesian workers.

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