North Gorontalo Regency in the Province of Gorontalo, cooperates with UGM to help accelerate the alleviation of underdeveloped areas in its territory. The agreement is contained in the memorandum of cooperation signed by the Rector of UGM, Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M. Eng., Ph.D., and Vice Regent of North Gorontalo, Indra Yasin, S.H, M.H, witnessed by Deputy for Economic Development and Business, Ministry of Underdeveloped Region Development, Ir. Rohmat Tatang Bachrudin.
Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M. Eng., Ph.D., welcomed the cooperation with North Gorontalo well. By doing so, UGM partners in helping accelerate development in the region also increased. "This cooperation adds new partnership for UGM in the effort to empower and develop the nation," said the Rector on the sidelines of the signing of the MoU in Leadership Room, UGM Central Office on Tuesday (24/5) afternoon.
The Rector said that UGM has thousands of students. However, this number is not comparable to the population of Indonesia that reaches 230 million, which requires the contribution of UGM graduates. "We have principles that UGM students are lucky people. We expect that they will be able to realize the ideals of UGM for civilization, benefits, and happiness," he said.
It is said by the Rector, the KKN PPM (UGM Community Empowerment Program Field Practice) activities undertaken by UGM students is also one form of the learning process of community empowerment. It is expected that students have the sensitivity to help empower the disadvantaged communities.
On the other hand, Indra Yasin said that the cooperation with UGM is expected to help the development of North Gorontalo, especially in education, infrastructure, and economy. “North Gorontalo is the new expansion region which was established only 4 years ago. UGM is expected to conduct research and development as well as community empowerment," he said.
Indra adds that this cooperation is not only limited in education and research, but also the promotion of the potential of agriculture and fisheries in the region. "We have quite a large potential in fishery because the region has the longest coastline in the province of Gorontalo, which is 235 km," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Ir. Rohmat Tatang Bachrudin, said that the Ministry has up to 2 trillion of funds under its management. "Nearly 83 percent of the funds are allocated to the regions. We’ve only managing 9.3 percent of it," he said.