ALUMNI OF AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES ENCOURAGED TO FORM “AUSTRALIA FORUM” IN INDONESIA 

             Brisbane - Thousands of Indonesians who have graduated from various Australian universities needed to form an Australia Forum, Culture and Education Attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, Agus Sartono, has said.

            "I encourage Australian alumni in Indonesia to form an Australia Forum with a conference on Australia Update as one of its annual programs," Agus Sartono told ANTARA  by phone on Monday (13/08).

            He said the formation of Australia Forum would help the Indonesian people understand various current issues in Australia and reduce misperception of the country.

            The Indonesian Culture and Education Attaché added that the idea of forming the Australia Forum had been also conveyed in an Australian-Indonesian Students Associa-tion (PPIA) seminar in Adelaide, last week. According to Agus Sartono, the Australia Forum would be important to improve both nations' understanding about each other.

            Australia has a lot of Indonesianists who regularly hold annual conferences on “Indonesia Update” at the Australian National University (ANU), and Agus Sartono hoped that Indonesia could also develop a similar program.

            He pointed out that the establishment of “Australia Forum” would help reduce misperception about Australia and make the relations between the two countries better.

            Agus said the idea of setting up an Australia Forum in Indonesia has also been proposed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and Vanuatu, T.M Hamzah Thayeb, on various occasions (Antara, 13/08/07)