OzMate posted on August 25, 2009 01:24
A delegation of 80 young and gifted Indonesian students from all regions of the country will depart for Australia on 25 August 2009 as part of the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Young Ambassadors Program.
The program from 25-29 August 2009 will divide students into three groups to visit either Melbourne, Sydney or Perth, and is aimed at strengthening understanding and links among the people of both countries.
Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer welcomed the visit and said he hoped it would introduce Australians to high-achieving, aspiring and dynamic young Indonesians, while offering these future leaders of Indonesia an introduction to the diversity of contemporary Australia and the many commonalities between the two countries.
“I personally congratulate these 80 talented young students aged 16-18 years who have been selected to participate based on excellent academic scores and participation in the elite President’s National Flag-bearers Program,” the Ambassador said.
“I would also like to congratulate the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs for its initiative in this program and express how pleased we are that the program is visiting Australia this year.”
“I hope this visit will enable them to develop lifelong friendships and give them an opportunity to further boost bilateral people-to-people links, particularly with Australian youth,” the Ambassador said.
“These people-to-people ties between Indonesia and Australia have a long history, existing well before European settlement in Australia and have followed through until present day. Australia’s 50,970 Indonesian-born population have made an enormous contribution to the success of contemporary, diverse Australia.”
Strengthening such people-to-people links was one of the goals of the successful bilateral conference, Australia and Indonesia: Partners in a New Era, which was held in Sydney in February this year.