Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta on Sunday opened a relay race competition in "Jakarta Kizuna Ekiden 2019" as a symbol of strengthening of Japan-Indonesia bilateral relations. He said that Jakarta Kizuna Ekiden 2019 as relay race sport establishes togetherness and relationship among nations. Ekiden is relay marathon competition in Japanese style which does not use stick to be given to another runner; otherwise it is used cloth which is called ‘Tasuki’. In Jakarta Kizuna Ekiden 2019, each team consists of 4 runners. Among of them, there is one Indonesian, or vice versa, three Indonesians and one Japanese. This year, there were 600 teams with total 2,400 participants. The event was conducted to commemorate the 61st year of Indonesian-Japanese relations.
Indonesian embassy in Vatican conducted a training to make batik for Catholic clergies and nuns in Napoli, Italy. The activity, which was conducted in Basilica Dell’incoronata Madre del Buon Consiglio, was attended by 29 nuns and three pastors from 10 congregations in Napoli and surrounding area. The congregations are hierarchically under Vatican. The training was opened by Indonesian Ambassador to Vatican, Antonius Agus Sriyono on Saturday (14/9). In his speech, Ambassador Sriyono said that the event is aimed to expand knowledge of clergies and nuns in Italy on wealth of Indonesian culture; one of them is making batik process. The event was the first time conducted by the Indonesian embassy in Vatican to promote Indonesian culture. Batik itself has received recognition from UNESCO since 2009 as Masterpieces of the Oral and the Intangible Heritage of Humanity in the uniqueness of its making proses and symbolism.
Ministry of Education and Culture through Directorate General of Teacher and Educational Personnel sent again delegations to participate in Teacher Exchange Program. This year, 12 teachers depart to South Korea for period of August - November 2019. They are placed at elementary and senior schools. The Program is participated in by Asian-Pacific countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mongolia, and Malaysia. The aim of the program is to improve teachers’ capacity of global education and cross-cultural communication skills through experience. Furthermore, the program is to grow mutual understanding among the community in Asian-Pacific region, and also to make cooperation model of educational development.