Indonesia has been appointed the leading country along with Thailand for developing the “ASEAN Competence Standard for MICE & Event Professionals” as agreed upon under the ASEAN Mutual Recognition of Tourism Professionals (MRA-TP).

ASEAN MRA-TP's function is to support the mobility of professional manpower in the tourism sector in ASEAN, resources and institutional affairs deputy at the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, Diah Martini Mohamad Paham, said.

"We know that we are currently within AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), wherein there is a collective ASEAN MRA-TP agreement between AMS (ASEAN Member States)," she noted during the “ASEAN MICE Toolboxes National Convention” here on Monday.

"The goal is to create ASEAN member countries' mutual recognition in applying professional manpower competence standards in tourism and mobilize manpower exchange among ASM," she informed.

Indonesia is considered to have the privilege of the early development of work standards in ASEAN through the adoption of domestic work standards, she informed.

However, it needs to catch up in terms of tourism human resources so that it does not become a spectator within its own country.

To this end, the collaboration between Penta helix stakeholders is important. There must be a regulatory alignment within the education, vocation, and training worlds, she noted.

The curriculum needs to be prepared so that the human resources that Indonesia produces are ready to enter a work environment that is already one level up, she said.

There should also be a harmonization of the industry world, associations, and practitioners so that everyone is connected and Indonesia is ready to compete in ASEAN's labor market, she added.

In line with the 4 AS work ethic (hard work, smart work, complete work, and sincere work) promoted by the Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno, Paham said she believes that Indonesian tourism human resources can compete and even enter international markets.

This focus aligns with other work ethic principles such as innovation, adaptation, and collaboration, as well as work strategies that emphasize quality and sustainable tourism and optimize digitalization.

The National Convention's outcomes will be presented at the ASEAN Tourism Professional Monitoring Committee Meeting (ATPMC) in Cambodia on December 6–8, 2022, she informed.

"We certainly expect that the collectively agreed upon documents will not just be documents, but can also be implemented and be beneficial for the industry's need in the future," she said.