Ambassador Priyo Iswanto receives an award from the University of del Sinu, Colombia
Indonesian Ambassador to Colombia, Priyo Iswanto received an award of One Hundred-Year Medal -Elias Bechara Zainum from the University of del Sinu in Colombia, which was awarded online in a ceremony on Thursday (10/12) local time. Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Bogota in a statement in Jakarta, Friday (11/12) stated that Ambassador Priyo received the award because he has contributed to bring forward the relationship between Colombia and Indonesia, particularly over past few years amid difficult situations and due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As quoted from the statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Bogota, he stated that the award is an honor for the Indonesian people, as well as an acknowledgment from influential institutions in Colombia that the cooperation between Indonesia and Colombia is getting increased, and the image of Indonesia is getting more positive and well known by the Colombian people.
He further remarked that after 40 years of diplomatic relations, now it is the right time for academicians to be actively involved in increasing cooperation as well as increasing people-to-people contact by utilizing free visa facilities from both countries. In the fortieth anniversary of diplomatic relations, Indonesia and Colombia established bilateral consultations in 2020 and the countries agreed on a free visa policy for citizens of both countries. Besides, for the first time there has also been an academic collaboration between universities in Indonesia and Colombia, namely the Veterans National Development University of East Java and the University of Externado, the University of Muhammadiyah Malang and the EAFIT Medellin University, and it is in a process for the University of del Sinu with one of the universities in Indonesia.