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