Monash University announced it had received the Government of Indonesia’s approval to establish the first foreign university campus in Indonesia.

Based in Jakarta, Monash Indonesia will function as a postgraduate campus, offering Master and PhD degrees, as well as executive programs and microcredentials. It will be research-intensive and industry-engaged and operate with full support of both the Indonesian and Australian governments.

The establishment of Monash Indonesia symbolizes a vital deepening of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia, with long-term benefits for both countries in the areas of education, research, and industry collaboration, according to a statement from Monash University received in Jakarta, Monday.

In particular, it will facilitate the two-way flow of students and scholars, and innovative ideas and technology.

Monash Indonesia will make a strong and distinctive contribution to Indonesia’s social, economic, and technological development. It will bring expertise in areas of high demand, including data science and digital technology, infrastructure and urban planning, creative industry and entrepreneurship, and health systems and public health.

In establishing this campus, the university upholds its commitment to being a truly global university. This new Monash campus joins a dynamic network alongside the highly successful Monash University Malaysia, as well as our partnered campuses in Suzhou, with the SouthEast University, and Mumbai, with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

Monash Indonesia will begin short executive programs later this year and plans the first intake of Masters students for the four quarter of 2021.

Students of Monash Indonesia will be awarded a Monash University degree, and opportunities will exist for cross-campus collaboration for research purposes and mobility in education.

“Monash has a long-standing history of engagement in Indonesia and a desire to build deeper links with a thriving and innovative community with great ambitions for education and research,” Professor Margaret Gardner AC, president and vice-chancellor of Monash University, stated.

“The opening of Monash Indonesia, the first Australian university based in Indonesia, will enable us to work in and with Indonesian people and their organizations to realize their future opportunities. The physical establishment also serves as a symbol of Monash’s commitment to Indonesia and the wider Asian region, as well as stronger research and education links between Indonesia and Australia,” Gardner noted.

“I am very pleased Monash University will establish a branch campus in Indonesia. This will help accelerate the strengthening of our education system and deepen the social, economic and technological links between Australia and Indonesia. This partnership will be the first out of the many other partnerships to come,” Indonesia’s Minister for Education and Culture, Nadiem Makarim, stated. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is upbeat about the capital city relocation to East Kalimantan saying that it will have been completed in 2024.

"As we have planned, we will relocate (the capital city)," Jokowi said at Mount Ainslie in Canberra, Australia on Sunday.

Mount Ainslie is a 843-meter high hill in Canberra that has become part of Canberra Nature Park. From the hill, visitors could observe the view of Canberra.

President Jokowi has visited the hill in the company of Chief Executive National Capital Authority Canberra Sally Barnes.

"We have conducted a city design competition a year ago. A study had also been started five years ago, and we have made a decision. We have to wait for the approval of the law before we can conduct the land clearing and start the basic infrastructure development," he elaborated.

Canberra is a "new city" specially designed as the capital of Australia. It was established in 1913, two years after the establishment of the Australian Capital Terrirory (ACT).

As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is home to many important institutions of the federal government, national monuments and museums. It also hosts the majority of foreign embassies in Australia, including the Indonesian Embassy.

Indonesia has planned to relocate its capital city to East Kalimantan in 2024.

On December 23, 2019, it announced the “Nagara Rimba Nusa” design as the winner of the design contest for the country’s new capital city.

The government has set aside 256,000 hectares of land for the new administrative centre.

Some 56 hectares of the total land will be the region that is not included in the autonomous province, managed by a city manager, while the rest will be designated as conservation. (ANTARA)

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan - The state needs the press in true perspective to function as the fourth pillar of democracy and play a vital role in maintaining the conducive situation of the state and nation, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.

"As the fourth pillar of democracy, the press is expected to provide information to the public, thwart hoaxes, and maintain the conducive situation of the nation," he stated while addressing National Press Day 2020, in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Saturday.

He highlighted that the public also needs the press since it is obtaining good, reliable information from journalists joining the press association or a good environment.

Hence, the president noted that the government and various relevant parties had held discussions to issue a regulation in favor of the press so that journalists can perform their duties as properly as possible.

"We hope that through the regulation, we would present the press as being capable of working properly and furnishing sound information to the public since it is the result of good information," he stated.

The president expressed support to journalists to write various stories, including those supporting and criticizing the government's performance to change the situation for the better.

"We hope all pieces of information that journalists convey to the public would deliver maximum benefits. The information includes regional head elections to be conducted in various regions and the government's constant efforts to handle the coronavirus," he stated.

High-ranking state officials, ministers, and ambassadors of friendly countries, as well as thousands of journalists from all over the country, will also be present at the function to mark National Press Day 2020. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - The Indonesian government and the House of Representatives (DPR) have agreed on the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) becoming a law. With the approval of the bill, it will make it legal for the two countries to implement comprehensive economic cooperation, Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto said in a statement released Friday.

"With the approval of the bill, the DPR, along with the government, have implemented the mandate of the Constitution as their dedication to the public, nation and state to realize the ideals of the country's independence to promote the economic welfare of the entire Indonesian nation," he said.

The IA-CEPA is one of the efforts to increase the export of goods and services, open foreign investment inflows, and develop human resources amidst the global economic downturn and the increasing trade barriers in each country, he said.

The Indonesian trade minister and the Australian trade, tourism and investment minister signed the IA-CEPA in Jakarta on March 4, 2019.

The bill comprises two articles that the DPR and the government have agreed, with several technical changes in its general elucidation.

"The approval of IA-CEPA will be part of the process to transform Indonesia into a developed economy and promote the people's welfare," he said.

The government and the House Commission VI have conducted first-level discussions where they listened to the final mini view of each faction and the government's views and signed the text of the bill on the endorsement of IA-CEPA during a working meeting Tuesday.

The DPR will later hold second-level discussions and decide the bill already agreed upon into law, at a plenary meeting. (ANTARA)