REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAKASSAR -- The Australian Government is preparing 20 scholarship programs for Eastern Indonesia in 2024 to strengthen Indonesia-Australia diplomatic relations.

Australian Consul-General Todd Dias said that as Consul General Australia was always looking for opportunities for people from Eastern Indonesia, particularly South Sulawesi, to get scholarships or short courses in Australia.

“Last year there were 10 short courses, this year there were 20 courses. I announce every time there are short courses on social media and I also travel to campuses for student public lectures and I want to increase the number of Australian alumni here,” Dias said at the Alumni Australia meeting in Makassar City on Saturday.

For Dias, she is also constantly providing information to students at various campuses regarding the sustainability of Master and S3 education through the Australian Student Alumni Association (IKAMA).

“I myself am an Indonesian-Australian student exchange alumnus and I fell in love with Indonesia. I hope they (alumni) have the same feeling,” he said.

This initiative as a networking series in Makassar celebrates 75 years of Indonesia-Australia diplomatic relations. Hundreds of Australian alumni, Australian company representatives and youth communities with an interest in Australia gathered in Makassar.

The networking event is an opportunity for Australian alumni to promote their businesses, projects and activities. We also organize this activity based on feedback from alumni that they are eager to get networking opportunities,” he explained.

This year marks the 75th Anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia. Australia played an important role in Indonesia's independence struggle. After the proclamation of independence in 1945, it took four years of diplomatic negotiations before the Netherlands relinquished its control over Indonesia.

This year's commemoration comes one year after the 70th Anniversary commemoration of the Australian scholarship program. The program began in 1953 and is the longest-running overseas scholarship program in Indonesia, with more than 200,000 alumni in Indonesia.

For more than seven decades, Australia has partnered with Indonesia in human resource development, responding to social and economic development priorities, and maintaining close ties between Indonesia and Australia.

“Makassar has a long historical relationship with Australia dating back several centuries, through trade deals between the Sulawesi people seeking sea cucumbers in Australia and the indigenous people of northern Australia,” he said.

While IKAMA Chairman Prof. Jamaluddin Jompa said Australia became one of the most consenting and close countries in the context of education, through various scholarships prepared.

For the Rector of Hasanuddin University, Australia as a developed country geographically close to Indonesia gives a special blessing to Unhas because it provides access to educational scholarships.

“We appreciate the Indonesian Government for maintaining bilateral and closer relations between Indonesia and Australia,” Prof JJ said in his greeting.

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