The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, José Honório da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, officially visited Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 19th and 20th, 2024. The main purpose of this visit was to explore opportunities for cooperation in higher education and strengthen the training of national human resources through partnerships with Indonesian higher education institutions.
On July 19th, Minister José Honório participated as a speaker at the seminar commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Trisakti Tourism Institute (Pariwisata), held at the Artotel Mangkuluhur Hotel. The event was attended by more than 500 guests, including Indonesian government representatives, professors from various institutions and private sector members. In his speech, the Minister emphasised the importance of tourism as a strategic sector for Timor-Leste’s sustainable economic development. He also announced plans to open a tourism faculty at the National University of Timor-Lorosa’e (UNTL) and a polytechnic institute for tourism, with technical support from the Bandung Institute of Technology, scheduled to begin in 2025.
On the same day, in addition to the seminar, the Minister and his delegation also visited the ITEA Institute at Borobudur University to observe the facilities and discuss future collaborations to train Timorese human resources in specialised areas.
On July 20th, the Minister met with representatives of three higher education institutions in Jakarta: the Nusantara Multimedia University of the Kompas Gramedia Group, Mercu Buana University, and Atma Jaya University. During these meetings, possible partnerships were explored, including offering scholarships for Timorese students and short-term training programmes for Ministry staff. In particular, Mercu Buana University expressed interest in offering master’s and doctoral scholarships to students from Timor-Leste.
To round off his visit, the Minister met with Timorese students currently studying in Jakarta. This meeting provided an opportunity to hear the students’ challenges, aspirations and recommendations, intending to strengthen support for Timorese students abroad and develop the higher education sector at the national level.