Singapore Management University Industry Leaders Dialogue in Conjuction with MOU Signing with Indonesia Universities
Depok – 1 October 2020 (Thursday), Universitas Indonesia signs MOUs with Singapore Management University (SMU), along with another prominent university, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) respectively to foster academic collaborations, and following the partnership it established with Universitas Gadjah Mada. The event titled “SMU Industry Leaders Dialogue” features Indonesia’s Minister of Education and Culture Mr Nadiem Makarim who shares his vision and plans for higher education in Indonesia. The theme of this year’s Dialogue was “The Future of Higher Education in a Post-Covid-19 Era‟. Minister Makarim engaged in a dialogue with SMU President Professor Lily Kong and shared his vision and plans for higher education in Indonesia. He also spoke about how he would see the pandemic reshaping education in Indonesia and took questions from the audience in a lively Q&A session moderated by Professor Kong. Minister Makarim said, “Close collaboration between the private sector and the government is necessary to drive innovation, grow our economies, and create sustainability in a world of constant change. This collaboration cannot be limited by national boundaries but must extend across borders, such as the collaboration taking place between Singapore and Indonesia. SMU plays an important role in fostering growth and innovation in our societies. The signing of MOUs today will not only give opportunities for Indonesians to access world class education but also be a benchmark for other local universities to collaborate with global institutions.”
SMU President Professor Lily Kong said, “Our goal is to be a hub of education and ideas – where the brightest prospective students enroll because it is where their futures can best be forged. We should be the site of innovation and ideas, where “industry” wants to partner us because we have a community with the quality of mind that generates ideas and solutions, where regional corporations also look to us for executive development, and training and up scaling their workforces.”
Minister Makarim also witnessed the signing of MOUs between SMU and Universitas Indonesia (UI) and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).
Professor Ari Kuncoro, Rector of Universitas Indonesia said, “To strengthen the relationship and cooperation between institutions in the areas of education, research and curriculum programs, UI is looking forward to collaborating with SMU in terms of student exchange programs, visiting scholars, student internships, joint conferences and research collaborations. I hope with this MOU signing, it will further strengthen the relationship of both our universities, so both can learn and benefit from this mutual relationship.” Since 2018, SMU has partnered with UI to facilitate a module in the Asian Financial Leaders Program, which is a joint program developed by SMU and Temasek Management Services Academy (now Human Capital Leadership Institute) to prepare senior-level talent in Asia’s financial sector to assume leadership positions and handle the growing complexity of Asia’s financial institutions. The collaboration with UI involves a 3-day program at the UI campus, where participants have dialogues with senior leaders in Indonesia from both the public and private sector, make company visits (such as Pertamina and Tokopedia), and attend sessions ranging from the politics, economics and business environment In Indonesia, to Islamic banking and Micro-lending.
The MOUs with UI aims to facilitate new academic collaborations and to promote cultural understanding between SMU and the two universities. The MOUs will facilitate the exchange of students, faculty and educational resources between SMU and each university, as well as joint research. SMU is in preliminary discussions with UI on launching joint programs, as well as enabling student and faculty engagements within the next 12 months.
More than 8,000 business, government and academic leaders, students and the larger community from Indonesia and Singapore attended the virtual event, including H.E. Mr Suryopratomo, The Republic of Indonesia‟s Ambassador to Singapore, and H.E. Mr Anil Nayar, Singapore‟s Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia and faculty member of Universitas Indonesia, who graced the event as special guests; SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping, as well as SMU senior management and SMU alumni in Indonesia.