VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: Cooperation between Indonesia and France in the field of education, between universities and research institutes of both countries will be stronger. This was conveyed by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Suharti at the 13th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting in the field of higher education, research and innovation which took place at Surabaya State University (Unesa) from 2 to 5 July 2024. "Through the cooperation between the two countries in conducting the JWG on a regular basis, cooperation in the fields of higher education, research, and innovation can be even stronger. Relationships between countries, including networks between universities in both countries and research institutions can be stronger," said Suharti in Surabaya on Wednesday (3/7).

Suharti added that the cooperation between Indonesia and France is expected to encourage the achievement of better educational outcomes and research results that can be utilised by both countries. "We also hope that cooperation in the field of culture, especially through the role of universities, can also be strengthened," she added.

Regarding the strengthening of the Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM) programme, Suharti said that the Indonesian Government appreciates the support of the French Government in facilitating access to cooperation with universities in France to be able to accept Indonesian students who pursue education in France through the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) and IISMA Co-Funding programmes.

On the same occasion, French Ambassador to Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and ASEAN, Fabien Penone, said that cooperation between Indonesia and France has been going on for a long time. "Cooperation in science has been going on for a long time between Indonesia and France. However, today we have to face new challenges, including the digital economy, biodiversity, and social science. We believe that what we need to develop to face these challenges is networking. We want to continue to strengthen our network with key actors in Indonesia to better understand and explore cooperation in education and science in Indonesia," Ambassador Fabien said.

Fabien said that the French government is open to welcoming more Indonesian students to visit and study in France. "This is a priority for us and of course, to achieve this, we are also working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. This is a priority that our President conveyed to President Joko Widodo," said Fabien.

Furthermore, Fabien revealed that Indonesia is one of the most important partners for France. France has a great interest in learning from Indonesia. "This is why our universities and research institutes are very happy to collaborate with Indonesia. The key word is partnership. We hope to establish long-term, not just short-term, co-operation between the two countries. We want to cooperate with Indonesia for a very long time," he said.

Meanwhile, the Rector of Surabaya State University, Nurhasan, said that to achieve the vision of a Golden Indonesia 2045, the Indonesia-France JWG is very important to encourage collaboration to create superior human resources.

Furthermore, Director of Europe I, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Widya Sadnovic, revealed that France has been a strategic partner of Indonesia for a long time. She added that the implementation of the JWG is one of the important implementations of the Plan of Action on Strategic Partnership between Indonesia and France signed in 2021. "Politically, the cooperation has been very close. Our task now is to continue to fill it in, one of which is with cooperation in the fields of economy, education and research," Widya concluded.

Source: Kemdikbud RI