The Ambassador visits ACICIS

"I congratulate ACICIS for making this possible..."

Mr Greg Moriarty, the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, paid a visit to the ACICIS programs in Yogyakarta on Wednesday 9 February 2011, spending the morning with partner universities and with the new semester students at their Orientation program. He said to the students:

"It’s a great pleasure for me to be here today to welcome you to Indonesia. It is extremely pleasing to see so many Australian students undertaking part of their studies in Indonesia and I congratulate ACICIS for making this possible through their extensive in-country programs."

"I would also like to thank the many Indonesian universities – Gadjah Mada, Sanata Dharma, Parahyangan and Muhammadiyah to name some – who have partnered with ACICIS to deliver such quality programs to our overseas students."

Ambassador Moriarty was leading a group of eight senior embassy officials, including the Education Counsellor Marie Grealy,  the Austrade Senior Trade Commissioner Leith Doody, two officers from the Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction, Matt Hayne and Henry Pirade, the First Secretary, Economic Section, Rachel Dunstone, the Deputy Director AEI Indonesia, Pingkan Umboh, and Angky Septiana from the Public Affairs Section, DFAT.

They had a round of calls in Yogya, including four ‘ACICIS stops’. Two of the calls were to Indonesian partner universities of ACICIS: Universitas Gadjah Mada and Universitas Sanata Dharma. The two universities fielded big teams of senior academics with Australia links. In both meetings the ACICIS programs were praised by the Indonesians and Australians as a key element in the web of links between Australia and these universities. The Embassy was looking to broaden the links with further educational cooperation, disaster management cooperation, and with news of a likely expansions in post-graduate scholarships.

After the calls on the two university leaderships, Greg Moriarty came to the Orientation for new students, about 32 students, and made a speech of welcome and congratulations. He said to them:

"Education has played and continues to play an instrumental role in the strong bilateral relationship that exists between Australia and Indonesia. As early as the 1950s, Indonesians having been coming to Australia to study – resulting in life-long friendships and a greater cultural understanding between our two nations. More recently we have seen Australian students making a similar journey to Indonesia to study and immerse themselves in Indonesian culture and communities supported by programs such as those provided by ACICIS."

"I hope that you will enjoy your time in Indonesia and have many opportunities to immerse yourself in the language and culture of the country. I would like to commend you for broadening your study experience in Indonesia and hope you find your time here to be both interesting and rewarding. I would strongly encourage you to become ambassadors for the ACICIS programs and that you share your experiences with your colleagues and students."

Then he had lunch with the students, before the ambassadorial party left for further visits in Yogyakarta. A most warm and supportive visit. It was well covered in the Yogyakarta media.

The 2011 journalism and development studies internship programs in Jakarta were also officially opened and closed by the Ambassador, who said:

“Programs like these help to increase the people-to-people links in the region, enhance understanding of contemporary issues in Indonesia, and provide an opportunity to strengthen professional linkages across the media and development sectors.”

Letter from the Ambassador

See photos of both events.

ACICIS Taring Padi posters