MPN To Send Academicians To Indonesia

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 12 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian National Council of Professors (MPN) will propose that a group of Malaysian academicians be sent to Indonesia under a fellowship programme. MPN chairman Professor Emeritus Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid said, under the programme, the academicians could study various aspects of Indonesia's current development. He said the programme would allow them to get a clearer picture of Indonesia's socio-culture and identify barriers which often challenged close relations between Malaysia and Indonesia. "We will propose the plan to the Indonesian academicians for their consideration...and we will also suggest that they reciprocrate. "MPN is also willing to organise post-graduate and academic staff exchange programme with Indonesian education institutions," he said, adding the council would raise funds to finance the group of Malaysian academicians to Indonesia. Zakri was speaking to reporters after delivering a speech at the Malaysia-Indonesia Academic Friendship Discourse opening ceremony here Wednesday. He led a delegation of professors from Malaysia to meet their counterparts from various Indonesian universities under the MPN knowledge programme. MPN, launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak on April 1, 2010, comprises about 2,000 intellectuals, serving as an umbrella for human capital development. -- BERNAMA