Australia grants A$3m to SMERU

Australia grants A$3m to SMERU

JAKARTA: The Australian government donated on Thursday A$3
million funds to the Social Monitoring and Early Response Unit
(SMERU), a local research institute, to help finance research on
social and economic issues.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia David Ritchie said that the
funds were part of his country's commitment to supporting social
and economic programs, especially those related to poverty
eradication programs.

Ritchie said Australia had donated a total of A$6 million to
SMERU since 1998 when the research institute was established in
an effort to monitor the impact of the economic crisis.

He stated that so far in 2004, Australia had donated a total
of A$152 million to Indonesia. --JP