Singapore's Education Minister Ong makes three-day visit to Indonesia

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung will meet political and business leaders and visit joint Singapore-Indonesia projects while in Indonesia. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION

JAKARTA - Education Minister Ong Ye Kung will be in Indonesia from Tuesday to Thursday (Jan 8 to 10), where he will meet with political and business leaders and visit joint Singapore-Indonesia projects.

He will have meetings with Indonesia's Minister for Research, Technology and Higher Education Mohamad Nasir, Minister for Education and Culture Muhadjir Effendy, Minister for Industry Airlangga Hartarto, and other Indonesian political and business leaders.

In the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, Mr Ong will visit start-up hub Block71 Jakarta, a partnership between the National University of Singapore's (NUS) enterprenurial arm, NUS Enterprise, and Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group.

The Jakarta office opened its doors in mid-2017. Since then, two other Indonesian cities have become part of the Block71 network as well, with Block71 facilities set up last year in Bandung and Yogyakarta.

Singapore's Ministry of Education said in a statement on Monday (Jan 7) that Mr Ong will also head to Central Java.

There, he is set to visit Kendal Industrial Park, a joint venture between Singapore's Sembcorp Development and Indonesia's industrial estate developer PT Jababeka.

The 2,700 ha park in Semarang - a bustling port city in the north-east of Central Java - was officially opened by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a Leader's Retreat in 2016.

At the 2018 retreat, PM Lee noted that Kendal Industrial Park has continued to progress, with 43 companies committed, and with US$500 million (S$678 million) in investments. More than 5,000 jobs will be created, he said.

Sembcorp in 2016 said thatabout 100,000 jobs are expected to be created by 2021.

Mr Ong will also visit the recently-opened Kendal Polytechnic in Kendal Industrial Park, which will help produce trained workers.

And he will witness the signing of a pact between Singapore Polytechnic and Indonesia's Ministry of Industry that signals both countries' commitment towards strengthening cooperation on vocational training, the development of an innovation centre, and research programmes on Industry 4.0.

Mr Ong will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Education.

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