Universitas Indonesia (UI) met with the Embassy of Chile to explore collaboration on Monday (25/03) in Meeting Room A, Floor 2, University Administration Center Building, UI Depok Campus. Previously, UI had collaborated with universities in Chile, namely Universidad Catolica Del Maule, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from 2018-2023. Currently, collaboration between the two universities is in the process of re-exploring.
Secretary of UI, dr. Agustin Kusumayati, M.Sc., Ph.D., enthusiastically welcomed the Embassy of Chile delegation to this meeting. He said that the potential for collaboration could provide positive opportunities for both parties and open up opportunities for UI to expand international collaboration with universities in Chile. “We have huge hopes that we will create significant collaboration between Indonesia and universities in Chile,” said Dr. Augustine.
Meanwhile, Ambassador of the Republic of Chile, Mario Ignacio Artaza Loyola, said that the visit of the Embassy of Chile to UI was aimed at identifying potential areas at UI that would collaborate with the Chilean government, as well as encouraging students and lecturers at universities in Chile to get involved in international collaboration. “Seeing the development of relevant issues in the surrounding community, this is a new idea to open opportunities for potential collaboration between Indonesia and Chile and their universities,” said Mario.
Chile is the most prosperous and stable country with a free trade system and open economy. Mario explained various problems occurring in the world, such as climate change, gender equality, welfare, and public health, as threats and challenges for every country. Mario sees the need to initiate high-level collaboration between Indonesia and Chile, involving Indonesian universities, students, and professors contributing to overcoming these challenges.
dr. Agustin responded that progress in relations between the two parties was a good collaborative initiative between the two countries. In this context, he proposed establishing wider collaboration with universities in Indonesia and in Chile.
We have held a meeting with German representatives to facilitate meetings between universities in Indonesia and Germany. “I think it’s exciting because we don’t currently have very active collaboration between UI and universities in Chile, so it would be great if we could be a liaison between Indonesian researchers and Chilean researchers,” said Dr. Augustine.
It is hoped that exploring the potential for this collaboration will be an excellent first step in expanding UI collaboration with university partners in South America. UI seeks to collaborate with global university partners to provide opportunities for students. At this meeting, there was the Head of International Affairs, drg. Baiduri Widanarko, M.KKK., Ph.D and Head of Sub-Directorate for Education and Government Cooperation, Dr. Eko Sakapurnama, S.Psi., MBA.
