Indonesia forges ties with Goethe Institute

Indonesia forges ties with Goethe Institute

JAKARTA (JP): The education and culture ministry and Germany's
Goethe Institute have agreed to exchange works on science,
technology, religion, culture, economics and politics.

The project agreement, with a term of five years, is the first
of its kind between Indonesia and Germany.

The cooperation agreement was signed here yesterday by chief
of Indonesian Language Development Center Hasan Alwi and German
Regional Language Training institute Henning Schroedter-Albers.

Present at the ceremony were Minister of Education and Culture
Wardiman Djojonegoro and German Ambassador Heinrich Seemann.

Activities will include the publication of an Indonesian-
German dictionary and translations of books and German language
courses for Indonesian professionals.

The Goethe Institute, which has offices in Jakarta, Bandung
and Surabaya, will finance and provide the facilities for the
activities while the staff running the seminars, meetings and
Indonesian language courses for Germans will be provided by the
ministry and the institute.

Hailing the agreement, Wardimman said the major mutual
benefits would be Germans learning Indonesian and Indonesians
learning German, translations of works in both languages and
linguistic seminars at the institute.

"The cooperation is an impetus to start fresh," Ambassador
Seemann said. He said his country's contribution to education in
Indonesia dated back to the 19th century.

This was further accelerated by the many Indonesians who
completed their university studies in Germany during the 1950's
and 1960's, Seemann said. (01)