Indonesian Ambassador to China Visits GDUFS

On April 15th, Sugeng Rahardjo, Indonesia's new ambassador to China and Mongolia, visited GDUFS and presented a lecture themed as "On the Basis of Interpersonal Communication: to Strengthen the Sino-Indonesia Relationship". It was his first visit to a mainland university since he took his new post in China. SUI Guangjun, Party Secretary of GDUFS and FANG Fanquan, Vice President of GDUFS have participated the welcome ceremony for Sugeng. Anak Agung Gde Alit Santhika, Consul General from Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Guangzhou and  Herbahyu, Cultural Consul were among the visiting delegation.

Indonesian majors performing a traditional Indonesian dance as a welcome ceremony

Sugeng (on the left) and SUI (on the right) talking

SUI presenting a souvenir to Sugeng

In the speech, Sugeng went to the long-established relationship between the two counties pointing  out that, during the past decade, as the agreement for building up a strategic partnership in an all-around way was signed, a comprehensive and multi-angle relationship that is conducive to interests of two peoples and even the Asian-Pacific region has taken shape. Given this trend, he felt it is of great significance to explore the interpersonal issues with the attendees as well as young people from both two countries.

According to  his remarks, both of the two countries have achieved great success in many respects like national defense security, maritime peace, regional economic integration, etc. And, in terms of the economic growth of each country, bilateral trade volumes hit record highs and the number of Chinese investors who have allocated their money in the oil and non-oil sectors in Indonesia has been expanding. Nevertheless, ordinary people in the two countries need to improve their mutual understanding of each other . "We must recognize the necessity for narrowing the gap and take it as a potential area of cooperation, rather than the root cause of bilateral issues." He said. 

Sugeng speaking

Therefore, the shared task for the two countries at the moment, is to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in order to narrow the gap between the public perceptions. Sugeng put forward the following six suggestions on this point: First, to exchange experts so as to strengthen joint research and communication among scholars. Second, to set up Indonesian research forums in Chinese higher institutes and vice versa. Third, to jointly conduct public diplomacy activities to promote public understanding of the development of bilateral diplomatic policy, direction, and so on, Fourth, to support the students who are determined to further their studies in the other country, while the Indonesian Ministry of Education is to provide opportunities. Fifth, to organize media dialogues regularly, such as an annual lecture in GDUFS, and last, to establish a bilateral research center, with a think tank included, to narrow the gap between public perceptions. In addition, he noted he was pleased with the Indonesia Research Center in GDUFS, hoping that it could serve both Indonesian language majors and those who long  to know more about Indonesia. 

Speaking of college students, he believed that care and concern came from understanding. "Your faces bring me back to the years when I was young". At that time, he dreamed to make contributions to his own country. So he wanted everyone to be a hard-working learner. "It not only determines the development of the country, but also of the world."he said . 

Sugeng and SUI Guangjun had conducted talks before the speech. SUI believed that, driven by a plentiful China - ASEAN cultural activities, GDUFS, an Indonesian cultivation base designated by China's Ministry of Education, China, through GDUFS, would like to take this opportunity to further develop the friendship with Indonesia.

Besides, Sugeng heaped praise on the cultural literacy of Indonesian-learning students.  He said, due to the time-honored foreign language teaching experience and the great language talent pool of GDUFS, he came here immediately after he had assumed his post. He is convinced that, through unremitting efforts of the younger generations, the relationship between China and Indonesia will surely embrace a new era.