RI, UZBEKISTAN EXPLORE EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION

Jakarta, Feb 16 (ANTARA) - House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono and visiting Uzbek Prime Minister Vladimir Norov at a meeting here over the weekend agreed it was important for the two countries to cooperate in education and tourism.

The meeting between Laksono and Norov was also attended by House Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar, Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Board (BKSAP) vice chairman Simon Patrice Morin and House Commission-I member Tosari Widjaja, an official parliamentary source said.
The two sides concluded bilateral cooperation in the two fields held out attractive prospects as the two countries having predominantly Muslim populations, communication between them would be much easier.
Meanwhile, Simon Patrice Morin said he fully supported the idea of cooperation in education and tourism between Indonesia and Uzbekistan because the latter was strategically located, it was an Asian country but located near Europe.
Vladimir Norov in the meeting with Laksono said the opportunity for the cooperation in education and tourism was wide open because the two countries had many things in common.
Meanwhile, Tosari Widjaja opined that to implement such a cooperation, a joint university needed to be set up in Indonesia and in Uzbekistan.
He said the cooperation between the two countries in education and tourism could be explored through cultural exchange because Islamic civilization in Uzbekistan was developing rapidly.
According to him, the existence of the joint university in Indonesia would be the center of Uzbekistan culture and the university in Uzbekistan would be the center of Indonesian culture.
Tosari expressed hope that the cooperation could be started with exchange of students of the two countries.