VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The governments of Bandung City and Melbourne City, represented by officials from each city signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MSP) at Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne City, last Monday (22/4). The MSP was signed by the Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp AO. The person in charge (PJ) of the Mayor of Bandung, Bambang Tirtoyuliono has signed the document separately in Bandung. The signing activity was also witnessed by the Indonesian Consul General for Victoria and Tasmania, Kuncoro Giri Waseso, Assistant for Economic and Development of Bandung City, Eric Mohamad Atthauriq, and a group of Bandung City Government delegates.

In a statement from the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne received on Wednesday (24/4/2024), it was stated that the MSP was intended to form cooperation and develop effective and mutually beneficial friendly relations. "There are five areas of cooperation agreed upon, namely Smart Cities; Economy and Trade; Higher Education, Training and Capacity Building; Livable Cities and City Resilience," the Consulate wrote.

After the signing of the MSP, the Bandung and Melbourne governments held a meeting to discuss education cooperation, the development of innovation and pioneering companies, the existence of multicultural communities, and the use of technology in city management. "Both parties also agreed that the newly signed MSP should be able to strengthen the cooperation that has existed so far," wrote the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne.

Before the MSP was signed, the two cities already implement active cooperation, including through the Bandung-Melbourne Innovation Event Social Impact in 2022; Participation of the Bandung City Government in the Victoria Cleantech Expo 2021; Collaboration of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the State Government of Victoria, and the City Government of Melbourne in organizing E-Commerce and Cybersecurity Training for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) which was attended by 25 SMEs and MSMEs in Bandung in 2020; Webinar on Respective Responses to the COVID-19 Situation in West Java and Melbourne in 2020; Signing of the 2019 City to City Cooperation Letter of Intent (LoI); and, Sending the winner of the 2019 Bandung-Melbourne Datathon to Melbourne for incubation in 2019. As an implementation of the MSP, both Bandung and Melbourne will share experiences related to the organization of city day operations, pitch competitions, knowledge exchange, cultural arts cooperation, student exchange, and two-way trade and investment promotion.

Prior to the signing, the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne also facilitated a meeting between the Bandung City Government Delegation and the Indonesian Culinary Association of Victoria (ICAV), an association of Indonesian business people and gastronomists in Victoria. During the meeting, both parties discussed future collaborations, including the Bandung City Government's participation in gastronomy promotion activities in Victoria, exploring business opportunities such as the export of spices and handicrafts from Bandung, and the expansion of restaurants from Bandung. (Daniel).