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)