University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) continues to strengthen its cooperation with two universities in Cairo, Egypt, which are the Suez Canal and Al-Azhar University. This partnership is marked by the visit of the delegations from the two universities to meet UGM Rector, Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M.Eng., Ph.D, in the Leadership’s Meeting Room on Wednesday (28/7).
In a meeting with the UGM Rector, Dean of Faculty of Literature and Humanities Sciences of Suez Canal University, Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim Yusuf, Director of Post-Graduate of Suez Canal, Prof. Dr. Abdul Hafeez, and Director of Salih Kamil Center for Islam Economic Studies Al-Azhar University, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Dasuki Kasbah.
According to Abdul Halim Yusuf, the cooperation between the two parties actually has existed especially between the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM with Suez Canal Faculty of Literature. There are many UGM students currently studying there. In fact, those UGM students are known to have good morale and achievements. "Hopefully, in the future the cooperation could be improved," Joseph Halim explained. He said that currently the Suez Canal has at least 21 faculties spread across in four campuses.
Meanwhile, Prof. Mustafa Dasuki said the increase in terms of cooperation relationship with UGM as well as the Suez Canal is significant. Especially for the study of Islamic economics, this field has the potential to be developed given the good Indonesian market in the field of Islamic economics, such as zakah, waqf, etc. "Here we have a kind of short course, training, etc, so that the potentials can be developed," said Mustafa.
His visit to UGM, Mustafa added, is the third visit. He considered UGM is progressing fairly rapidly. Mustafa’s previous visit was made during the launching the Middle East Studies courses as well as a seminar of Islamic Economics.
"Middle Eastern Studies and Islamic Economics seem good to be incorporated. After three visits to UGM, I saw fairly fast development,’ he said.
Meanwhile, in his speech Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi welcomed the visit of the two delegations. Sudjarwadi said that Indonesia-Egypt relations have come a long way since the administration of President Sukarno. From this quite long relations, many Indonesian citizens have also continued their studies or been granted scholarships to study in Egypt.
"In addition to our plan to enhance the cooperation in the future, on behalf of the community and students who have received study assistance in Egypt, I extend our profound gratitude," Sudjarwadi said.
Also attending in the friendly meeting were: Education Attaché of Indonesian Embassy in Egypt, Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M. Hum, Head of Office of International Affairs, Dr. Rahmat Sriwijaya, and Dean of Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Dr. Ida Rohani.