IRPRESUNIV.ORG, CIKARANG – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia collaborated with President University’s Major Association of International Relations (PUMA IR) for the occasional seminar, but with this specific seminar lifting the topic of “BREXIT Implications for Indonesia-UK Cooperation Relations”. With speakers coming from both President University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where it was attended by students of International Relations from Batch 2016 to 2018, and also students from the Christian University of Indonesia (Universitas Kristen Indonesia)
The seminar was opened by the Master of Ceremony, introducing the many speakers, before proceeding to have all attendees of the seminar to stand for the national anthem of Indonesia. It moved on to opening remarks by the Vice Rector of President University, Ir. Dwi Larso, MSIE, Ph.D. Unlike most seminars, the exchange of the tokens of appreciations were done in the beginning after the opening remarks. From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they had kindly given President University souvenirs, and vice versa, showing each other’s great appreciation and good relations. After the exchange, there was a keynote speech presented by Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Policy Assessment and Development Agency of Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Siswo Pramono, where he had explained of the topic briefly, and what he hoped would be achieved during the discussion throughout the seminar.
The Master of Ceremony then introduced the moderator for the discussion, Dr. Ben Perkasa Drajat, who is the Head of Center for Policy Development in the Americas and Europe Region of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Indonesia, and the speakers, which consisted of Mr. Hendra Manurung, S.IP, M.A., a lecturer from International Relations Study Program in President University, Mr. Boris Situmorang, Head of Center for Reviewing International Trade Cooperation, and last but not least, Mr. Dino R. Kusnadi, European Director 1 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It started off with the moderator, Dr. Ben Perkasa Drajat, explaining of the general topic and that it will be delivered bilingually, using both Bahasa Indonesia and English, as there were a few foreign students attending the seminar. It moved on to Mr. Hendra Manurung, who explained mainly of the bilateral relations that both Indonesia and U.K. have, focusing on the aspects that the two nations have done to maintain said relations. The second speaker was Mr. Boris Situmorang, where his speech was mainly focused on the impact of trade relations on Indonesia and the U.K. by mentioning of the import and export of non-oil and gas between the two nations. The third speaker was Mr. Dino Kusnadi where he had focused the topic of his speech on Post-Brexit and the impact to the bilateral relations between both Indonesia and U.K. He had also mentioned of the 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations, along with economy diplomacy.
The seminar had ended with a few questions from the participants, showcasing of their curiosity towards the hot topic, where each speaker gave their best responses to the questions in hopes it fulfills their curiosity. It proceeded with a quick photo session, marking the end of the seminar.
By: Famitha Dianputri Latif (IR 2018)