YOGYAKARTA – Cultural tourism that becomes the icon of Yogyakarta not only attracts tourists but also some Argentinian universities to come to develop cultural tourism through cooperation with Universitas Gadjah Mada.
That was one topic emerging in the visit of a delegation of five universities in Argentina to assess educational cooperation possibilities with Universitas Gadjah Mada, Friday (11/5), in Multi-media Room, UGM Main Office. They were accepted by UGM Senior Vice Rector for Administration, Planning, Development, and Human Resources, Ir. Adam Pamudji Rahardjo, M.Sc., Ph.D, and Executive Secretary, Drs. Djoko Moerdiyanto, M.A.
The five universities from Argentina were Universidad del Gran Rosario, Universidad Abierta Interamericana, Universidad de la Cuenca del Plata, Universidad de Conception del Uruguay, Universidad de Flores and Universidad del Este. The delegation was led by the Ambassador of Indonesia to Argentina, Nurmala Pandjaitan Sjahrir, accompanied by the President of the Confederation of Private Higher Education of Argentina, Edgardo De Vincenzi.
Edgardo said that cultural tourism developed by Yogyakarta’s Governor, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, has made Yogyakarta a global icon of the concept of cultural tourism. Therefore, the cultural tourism education ought to be developed for education for Argentinian students who will study at UGM. "It is done in order that Indonesian and Argentinian students can promote each other’s country," he said.
Nevertheless, according to Edgardo, the language becomes an obstacle for Argentinian students to follow student exchange. Most Argentinian students speak Spanish language. Meanwhile, English is rarely used in Argentina. However, he thought this would be overcome gradually. "Introducing and combining Argentinian and Indonesian culture is one important thing from this cooperation," he said.
Ambassador Nurmala Pandjaitan Sjahrir said that cooperation between universities in Indonesia and Argentina gives opportunities in student and faculty exchanges as well as professors and research exchanges. The cooperation would even become a means of information exchange between the two countries. "We need to exchange information through the exchange of students and lecturers as well as to promote Indonesia at the global level," she concluded.