AIT mission to Indonesia
5 August 2005
On 5 August 2005, Prof. Said Irandoust (4th from left, below), AIT President accompanied by Mr. Sanjeev Jayasinghe (2nd from right, below), Director of Promotions made a very short mission to Jakarta, Indonesia. The meetings were arranged with the assistance of the Indonesian Embassy and the support of the AITAA-Indonesia Executive Committee members and senior alumni.
The mission aimed to raise the profile of AIT in key Ministries in Indonesia as well as to establish a long term presence in Indonesia through an AIT Center that could contribute towards the HRD capacity building and the needs of its civil staff.
On 5 August, the AIT President and delegation visited the Ministry of National Education and held meeting with Prof. Suwarsih Madya (below, 4th from right), Director General, Bureau of International Cooperation and Public Relations; Ms. Yun Widieti (below, 1st from right), Senior Assistant to Director General attended the meeting. Joining the meeting were Mr. Chainarong Na Lamphun (below, 3rd from left), President of AITAA-Mother Chapter; Prof. Dennes T. Bergado (below, 1st from left), Executive Secretary of AITAA-Mother Chapter; Mr. Laksana Gandaatmadja Abednego (below, 2nd from left) (WRE '83); and Mr. Johnny Johan (below, 3rd from right), Secretary of AITAA-Indonesia Chapter (SEC '89).
Discussions were held about having an AIT Center through one of the Ministries as its partner in order to offer a two phase AIT degree. The first phase (1-year) to be done in Indonesia will offer a reduced tuition fee for students during the first year studies in Indonesia and will be employing an AIT faculty and a local Indonesian faculty. Potential candidates will then be proceeding to AIT for the second year and will be paying full tuition fee at AIT. Prof. Madya welcomed the initiative and mentioned she will pass on the information to Dr. Satrya Brodjowegara, Secretary General of Higher Education. She assured the AIT team that H.E. Minister will most certainly back up and provide full support for such an initiative. It was also discussed that a concept paper be developed and then presented to H.E. Minister for discussions and endorsement when President make a follow up visit to Indonesia in mid-October 2005.
The AIT President and delegation also visited the Ministry of Public Works and held meeting with Mr. Iwan Nursyirwan (above, 3rd from right), Director General, Minister of Public Works. The meeting was joined by the Dr. Sugimin Pranoto (HSD'86) (above, 2nd from right), President of AITAA-Indonesia Chapter in his capacity as the Advisor to H.E. Minister of Public Works, Mr. Achmad Lanti (WRE '83) (above, 1st from right), Chairman, Regulatory Body of Jakarta Water Supply Provision. AIT President informed Mr. Iwan on the idea of establishing a AIT Center in Indonesia in collaboration with a top local university. At the junction Mr. Iwan suggested on behalf of H.E. Minister that AIT should partner the Ministry of Public Works on this proposed AIT Center as the Ministry can provide the infrastructure by way of building they have in Bandung. Mr. Iwan also noted that the Ministry has over 11,000 staff of which only 5% have Masters degree. Hence most certainly the Ministry could avail of the AIT Center to train their staff at certificate and Masters level based on the 2 phases program which has been mentioned earlier. He said AIT can avail of the full support of the Ministry of Public Works and an MoU will be prepared shortly between AIT and Ministry of Public Works with regards to the implementation of the concept. The basic concept is that the AIT Center will be opened using the infrastructure at Bandung provided by the Ministry. The first year in Bandung, the AIT curriculum will be taught by both AIT faculty as well as local faculty from Indonesia universities having fulfilled the requirement to teach the AIT curriculum in a particular field. The best student will come to AIT in the second year and complete his/her masters and pay full tuition fees to AIT for the second year.
The collaboration thus could be between AIT and Ministry of Public Works or between AIT and the Minister of Public Works and a top level University in Bandung. President will form a task force to look into this issue and prepare the concept paper for discussion with the H.E. Minister in mid-October.
In the same evening, there was a Meeting with alumni followed by dinner with Dr. Sugimin Pranoto (3rd from left, above), President, AITAA Indonesia Chapter; Mr. Chainarong Na Lamphun, President AITAA Mother Chapter; Prof. Dennes T. Bergado, Executive Secretary, AITAA Mother Chapter; Mr. Achad Lanti, Mr. Gudaatmaja, Mr. Johnny Johan and senior alumni.
Dr. Sugimin on behalf of the Alumni welcomed the President to Indonesia and was honored to disclose that this was the first ever visit of an AIT President to Indonesia. President Irandoust informed the group that AIT had in the past and need even more urgently the full support of its Alumni members in over 27 National Chapters to contribute towards the development and the sustainability of the Institute. Alumni are part and parcel of AIT and play an important role as 'Ambassador' of AIT in the various countries thus Prof. Irandoust during his term plans to enhance this cooperation and expects the alumni to play a very important function in AIT Promotions and student recruitment activities.
To the effect the President informed the group that Indonesia would be identified for the launching of a concept paper with specific incentives on the role of Alumni in the activities mentioned above. It is envisaged that a capable Alumni with a wide range of contacts in both public, private and university sector will be encouraged to set up a sub-office in Jakarta under the umbrella of the AITAA-Indonesia Chapter with the concurrence of the Mother Chapter.
This office would have 3 core activities to undertake:
- Student recruitment (starting from Jan/06 intake)
- Career planning for immediate Indonesia graduate and
- Providing information to AIT on a regular base on Indonesian projects/industry tenders where AIT faculty can submit proposal
In return, AIT shall grant the sub-office specific monetary incentives on the above 3 activities which could provide the Marketing Officer the impetus to work hard and bring in results.
The specific remuneration figures will be developed shortly by a task force conveyed by the President. The guidelines on the concept will be prepared in advance of the President's next visit to Indonesia in mid-October where an MOA shall be signed with the AITAA-Indonesia Chapter.
In this trip, AIT would like to thank and acknowledge Mr. Chainarong Na Lamphun, President, AITAA Mother Chapter who accompanied Prof. Irandoust to the meetings also with Dr. Dennes T. Bergado, Executive Secretary, AITAA. The presence of Mr. Chainarong was appreciated by the AIT President and stands to attest to the very good and close relationship AIT has cultivated with the AITAA. The acknowledgement likewise also goes to Dr. Sugimin Pranoto, President, AITAA-Indonesia Chapter; Mr. Johny Johan, Secretary, AITAA-Indonesia Chapter; Mr. Achmad Lanti, Mr. Laksana Gandaatmadja Abednego (WRE'83) and others who met with the AIT President and delegation at dinner as well as accompanying them to the meetings.