The Directorate of ASEAN Functional Cooperation received a courtesy call from a comparative study group consisting of 23 students and teaching staff from the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Malaysia (22/05).
UMS delegates, led by the Dean of School of Social Sciences UMS, Dr. Wan Shawaluddin Bin Wan Hassan and accompanied by Staff from Indonesian Consulate General in Kinabalu, conveyed that the aim of the visit is to enrich the knowledge of the students on the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the foreign political policy of Indonesia in the ASEAN cooperation framework, particularly in the socio-cultural field.
The group was received by the Acting Director of ASEAN Functional Cooperation (AFC) M. Rizki Safary. At the reception and presentation session, the Acting Director of AFC explained the role of Indonesia in ASEAN cooperation and the main task and function of the Directorate of ASEAN Functional Cooperation in carrying out the country’s foreign policy in the ASEAN Socio-political pillar.
“ASEAN is a corner-stone for the Indonesia’s foreign policy. During the chairmanship of Indonesia in ASEAN last year, a number of achievements have been made and they have to be sustained and improved in order to realize the 2015 ASEAN Community,” he said.
Rizki also added that ASEAN is expected to be able to develop into a more people-centered, people-oriented, and people-driven organization.
“Therefore, all ASEAN countries need to improve the awareness, solidarity, partnership, cohesiveness (the sense of ‘us’) from every stakeholder.”
This visit is expected to improve the people-to-people contact, especially among the scholars from Indonesia and Malaysia. According to the plan, the comparative study of UMS to Indonesia is scheduled to be lasted until 23 May 2012.
In addition to the visit to MOFA, the UMS delegation is also going to visit Universitas Nasional in Jakarta and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta. (Source: Dit. AFC/Ed.PY)