Jakarta – Nadiem Anwar Makarim, Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, has praised Indonesia and France’s continued educational partnership.
“Several Indonesian campuses have worked with French universities to boost the research environment. In 2021, we set a new record for the number of Indonesian students and researchers studying in France, with 579 people “Makarim notified us on Friday.
The achievement has acted as motivation to further strengthen and expand the well-established relationship, he noted.
“In particular, the government is concentrating efforts to improve higher education quality through the groundbreaking MBKM or Freedom in Learning and Campus program,” he stated.
Meanwhile, in her opening remarks at the 12th Joint Working Group (JWG) on Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in Valenciennes, France, held on June 28-29, 2022, Ministry Secretary-General Suharti revealed that Indonesia’s strategic cooperation with France has been going well.
“We expect that the established cooperation between the two countries will continue to flourish and can help each country’s important initiatives,” she said.
Indonesia and France seek to strengthen scientific cooperation in marine science, maritime science (oceanography), climate change, and environmental challenges at the 12th JWG meeting.
Furthermore, the French Embassy in Indonesia proposed financial schemes to promote collaboration, mobility, and scholarship opportunities.
Cyrille Pierre, Deputy Director General at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Directorate General for Global Affairs, Culture, Education, and International Development, stated that the gathering had various benefits.
“JWG has the ability to develop new academic relationships to influence the future generation of 3,500 academics who are currently participating in bilateral research cooperation and join the France Alumni Indonesia platform alongside (other) 2,700 persons, demonstrating the relationship’s vitality,” he added.
Source: Antara