President Said Irandoust represented the Asian Institute of
Technology (AIT) in establishing a partnership with the Directorate for
Water Resources and Irrigation (DWRI), State Ministry of National
Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas),
Republic of Indonesia to deliver tailored trainings on on Integrated
Water Resources Management (IWRM). 19 September 2008 marked this
day and confirmed AIT’s participation in the Bappenas’s open call
for proposal whereby AIT proposal survived intense competition from
strong international contenders.
From left to right, Ir. M Donny Azdan MA, MS, PhD (Director Water and
Irrigation, BAPPENAS), Dr. Sugimin Pranoto
(Director AIT Center in Indonesia), Dr. Ir. Dedy Supriadi Priatna, MSc
(Deputy Infrastructure, BAPPENAS), Prof. Said Irandoust
(AIT President),Astu Gagono Kendarto, ST (Planner Staff,
BAPPENAS).
As per the contractual agreement AIT will deliver a four-week training
in IWRM practices that are directly needed by DWRI to prepare,
coordinate and implement water resources and irrigation management in
Indonesia. The two-phase implementation strategy will entail a one-week
training for 30 Indonesian professionals at AITCI on the
fundamental skills of IWRM. Another three-week training for 20
more Indonesian professionals on advanced skills of IWRM will
constitute the second phase. Content-wise the training will take from
AIT’s rich collaborative experiences by offering similar
international interdisciplinary courses and reaffirms AIT position as a
leading multicultural regional hub of educational and research
activities in Asia.
AIT President and Deputy Infrastructure BAPPENAS shake hands after
signing memorandum, Dr. Ir. Dedy Supriadi
Priatna, Deputy Chairman of Infrastructure, National
Development Planning Agency; Dr. Ir. M Donny Azdan,
Director for Water and Irrigation; Dr. Ir. Budhi
Santoso, Planner; Ir. Juari, Sub Director for
Institutional Water Resources; Candra Rahmadiyanto
Samekto, Planner; Astu Gagono Kendarto,
Planner; Bernadeta Rosarica; Niken
Puspa, and Evi Ivana from
Bappenas attended the event on behalf of the
Indonesian agencies involved. Aside from Dr.
Sugimin, Director AITCI, Mr. Tatang
Sutardjo, Deputy Director, and Mr. Wijayanto,
Training Manager from AITCI were also present.
The winning proposal was largely contributed to the work of
Dr. Mukand S. Babel and his colleagues at the
Water Engineering and Management field of study at AIT.
Dr. Sugimin was also integral to the effort by
successfully materializing the contract.
Dr. Sugimin Pranoto (Director AIT Center in Indonesia), Dr. Ir. Dedy
Supriadi Priatna, MSc (Deputy Infrastructure, BAPPENAS) witnesses MoA
between BAPPENAS and AIT.
Bappenas recently recieved a grant from the Australian government to
develop human resources capabilities amounting to 60 M AUD.
Aside from the current MoU on IWRM, Bappenas has also expressed working
with AIT in the future with a focus on capacity building
initiatives.