The leadership of Universitas Brawijaya (UB) made an important visit to the Saudi Arabian Embassy as an effort to strengthen the internationalization program and establish strategic cooperation with various parties in Saudi Arabia. This visit is part of the Globalizing UB initiative which aims to increase collaboration and UB’s role in sustainable development on the global stage.
UB Rector, Prof. Widodo, S.Si., M.Si., Ph.D.Med.Sc., expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome from the Saudi Arabian Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Faisal Bin Abdullah H. Amodi. On that occasion, Prof. Widodo introduced UB as one of the largest universities in Indonesia with more than 75,000 students. He also recalled the awarding of the Doctor Honoris Causa degree to HRH Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud in 2008, and appreciated the assistance of laboratory equipment that is still actively used today.
The Ambassador, Faisal Bin Abdullah welcomed UB delegation with a warm greeting “Ahlan wa sahlan” and expressed his support for UB’s mission. He appreciated UB’s commitment to educating and advancing the younger generation, and emphasized that the Saudi Arabian Embassy is always ready to support development efforts, especially in the human resources sector.
UB Vice Rector IV, Andi Kurniawan, S.Pi, M.Eng., D.Sc., explained several initiatives and activities of UB’s collaboration with universities in Saudi Arabia. These programs include student and teacher exchanges, health worker internships, and research collaborations in the health sector and activities in the fields of agrocomplex and dryland agriculture, information technology, and the development of Arabic and Indonesian.
The Ambassador, Faisal greatly appreciated UB’s efforts and hoped that this collaboration could continue and become stronger. He also emphasized the importance of publication so that the collaboration that was established could be known more widely and provide a significant positive impact. Prof. Widodo also said that the legalization process of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Cooperation Agreement still faced several obstacles and required assistance from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Indonesia to facilitate the formal legal process with various universities in Saudi Arabia.
Vice Rector 1, Prof. Dr. Ir. Imam Santoso, M.P., revealed that UB plans to open an Arabic Language Study Program next year, as well as cooperation in developing Indonesian Language classes in Saudi Arabia. At the end of the visit, UB Rector invited Ambassador Faisal to give a guest lecture and visit UB campus. The invitation was responded very well by him and it was scheduled to visit UB Campus both in Jakarta and Malang.
This visit reflects UB’s commitment to continue expanding the reach of international cooperation and contributing to sustainable development at the global level. (UB PR/ Trans. Iir)