Indonesia and Romania explore strengthening higher education and research collaboration

The Indonesian government will encourage the use of various education funding schemes to expand opportunities for further study in Romania, particularly at the master’s and doctoral levels. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek) is promoting enhanced cooperation with the Romanian Embassy in Indonesia in the fields of higher education, academic mobility, research, and innovation. In a statement released in Jakarta on Friday, Minister Brian Yuliarto explained that Indonesia is currently focusing on several strategic research areas, including food security, energy security, clean water, technology downstreaming, industrial downstreaming, digitalisation, defence, and semiconductors. “We hope to discuss the potential for strengthening Indonesia-Romania collaboration, especially in higher education, science, and technology. I appreciate Romania’s consistent support for Indonesia, and we believe this relationship will continue to strengthen in the future,” he said. Minister Brian noted that Romania has particular strengths in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and proposed strengthening inter-university research through mechanisms such as joint research schemes between the two countries. Responding to this, Romanian Ambassador to Indonesia Dan Adrian Bălănescu welcomed the initiative and stated that education is one of Romania’s priorities in its cooperation with Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Bălănescu also proposed the establishment of a joint working group on higher education to discuss various cooperation opportunities in a more structured manner, including the development of scholarship programmes, student and academic exchanges, research collaboration, and innovation partnerships. As a follow-up, the Indonesian government will promote the use of various education funding schemes to broaden opportunities for advanced study in Romania, especially at the master’s and doctoral levels. Both parties also agreed to explore the signing of a memorandum of understanding in higher education, science, and technology. The agreement is expected to facilitate the development of various collaborative programmes between universities and research institutions in both countries.