Rector of Universitas Hasanuddin, Prof. Dr. Dwia Aries Tina Pulubuhu, MA., attended the policy dialogue activity organized by The Australia-Indonesia Center (AIC). Dialogue discussed several agendas regarding transportation, commodities and opportunities for people who live along the Makassar-Parepare Railroad took place at the Melia Hotel, Makassar, on Wednesday (05/02).
Australian Consulate, Richard Mathews, and Economic and Investment Advisor in the Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Wihana Kirana Jaya, also joined the event. In addition, this activity was also attended by the South Sulawesi Development Acceleration Team, the Regional Development Planning Agency, representatives of the Australian Government, and researchers from Indonesia and Australia who are members of the Partnership of Australia – Indonesia Research (PAIR).
In her remarks, Prof. Dr. Dwia Aries Tina Pulubuhu, MA, said that the AIC regularly strengthen the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia in various development aspects such as economics, industry, and academics.
The PAIR is a program that tries to connect Indonesian and Australian researchers in responding to various development issues. At the moment, the PAIR is focusing on the construction of the Makassar-Parepare Railroad.
“This is a strategic issue. The Railroad development should involve all sectors. For South Sulawesi people, the train is not common transportation that is often used. Therefore, the desire of the community has not been seen in the effort to develop the transportation route,” said Prof. Dwia.
At the end of her remarks, Prof Dwia believes this activity will result in strategic thinking from various scientific disciplines and can be used as a reference in efforts to expand accelerated development in South Sulawesi.
On the same occasion, Richard Mathews said that the PAIR program, which involves academicians and Government, is a reference to formulate policy. According to Mathews, an excellent policy will affect the development of quality outcomes. Arranging the policy, needs precise, accurate, and balanced data and information. It is also necessary to involve academics and the community.
“Establishing policy means we set a standard. The collaboration between academics and Government becomes an effort to formulate excellent and good quality policies. The researchers have a role in recommending neutral and balanced Government policy directions,” said Mathews.
The Australian consulate-general hopes the program will support increasing human resources quality, especially the Researchers, and help the community be aware of the importance of policy arrangement based on data. This collaboration program is expected to help accelerated development in South Sulawesi.
As the Executive Director of AIC, Eugene Sebastian stated that the dialogue allowed the researchers to listen to suggestions and feedback from various involved elements in the PAIR program.
“Based on the result of the dialogue, we will begin the development of joint research centred on the Makassar-Parepare railroad area and explore how the railroad can benefit the community,” said Sebastian.
After the opening, it was continued by listening to a presentation from several speakers with different backgrounds. The activity attended by more than 80 delegations of Researchers from the Indonesian and Australian Government and the Accelerated Development Team of South Sulawesi ended at 16.00 WITA. (*)
Kumara Tungga Dewa, S.S.
Editor: Ishaq Rahman, AMIPR
