REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Finnish Education and Communication Minister Krista Kuru paid a courtesy call on Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla here on Thursday.
"I was pleased to meet Vice President Jusuf Kalla today to establish cooperation in the fields of education and communication because it is important to be aware of possible areas where cooperation between teachers of the two countries can be built," Kuru said at the vice president's office.
The minister hopes that the bilateral cooperation in the field of education helps to strengthen diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Finland, which have been in existence for the last 60 years.
"This meeting indicates that Finland and Indonesia are committed to establishing stronger cooperation following a history of 60 years of diplomacy between them," the minister stated.
In addition, Finland is also interested in establishing cooperation in the field of information technology and communication, particularly in developing digital public services.
"I believe we will be able to establish good cooperation in information technology and communication, notably digital public services, so later, what we work on in this field together will be better," Kuru remarked.
Following a meeting with Vice President Kalla, the Finnish Rector delegation was scheduled to meet Research, Technology, and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir and Education and Culture Minister Anies Baswedan to discuss signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on education.
"Indonesia and Finland will sign an MoU on education. Today, we spoke with Minister Nasir on a bilateral MoU in the fields of research, technology and higher education," Juha Christensen of the University of Finland affirmed.
Moreover, Finland is also interested in conserving Lake Toba in North Sumatra and is cooperating with several higher education institutions, Head of the Rector Forum of Finland Kalervo Vaananen stated after meeting Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
He noted that the Finnish institution's first visit to Lake Toba paved the path for establishing cooperation.
