USK Attended The 17th IMT-GT UNINET Meeting to Discuss Sustainable Cooperation

As representatives of the Permanent Secretariat of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) UNINET (University Network) from Universitas Syiah Kuala, Prof. Dr. Ir. Taufiq S., M.Eng., Vice Rector for Planning, Partnerships, and Business, accompanied by Dr. Muzailin Affan M.Sc, Chairman of Office of International Affairs, attended the 17th Strategic Planning Meeting of IMT-GT held on March 24-25, 2024, in Tangerang.

The meeting aimed to report the recent progress on the cooperation and the annual work plans from all working groups, the Joint Business Council (JBC), and UNINET.

The meeting series began with the National Secretariat Meeting, followed by the convergence meetings of several Working Groups, and concluded with the Plenary Meeting of Senior Officials.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Taufiq S., M.Eng., presented a report at the IMT-GT UNINET forum, discussing meetings with UNINET stakeholders regarding the Implementation Blueprint (IB) 2022-2026 and UNINET SAP 2022-2026, UNINET role as a Think Tank and support for all IMT-GT Working Group members, recruitment of new university members, and upcoming agenda items related to the 4th UNINET Council Meeting.

During the presentation, Prof. Taufiq mentioned 14 projects being undertaken by UNINET, including the IMT-GT UNINET Superfruit Project, IMT-GT Varsity Carnival, UNINET Internship Program, IMT-GT UNINET Webinar and Conference, IMT-GT UNINET Students Mobility, UNINET’s development of a Halal Curriculum through the EDU-Halal Project, Reverse Linkage Halal Blockchain Program, UNINET Council Meeting, IMT-GT UNINET Summer Camp, Patchouli Oil Collaboration, Agricultural Research Collaboration, IMT-GT UNINET Community Engagement, and IMT-GT UNINET Find Grads Initiative Program.

Continuing with an update on the IMT-GT Varsity Carnival, Prof. Taufiq reported on the participation of 12 university members and the activities of the Varsity Carnival. Last year, the Varsity Carnival was successfully hosted Universitas Syiah Kuala and attended by more than 600 local and international students.

Additionally, Prof. Taufiq reported on the outcomes of several Coordination Meetings held last year in Thailand and Malaysia.

In the future, IMT-GT UNINET will focus on several points, including recruiting new university members from private and non-private institutions, integrating Varsity Carnival activities within UNINET, Halal Blockchain & Halal Collaborations among Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, QS Ranking initiatives for UNINET member universities, research, and others.

Overall, IMT-GT cooperation is currently implementing 140 projects, including 36 infrastructure projects (Physical Connectivity Projects/PCPs). IMT-GT will also conduct a review of the Blueprint Implementation 2022-2026, to be reported at the Ministerial Meeting in September 2024.

The IMT-GT meeting also discussed three cross-sectoral projects: the Visit IMT-GT Year 2023-2025 initiative focusing on transportation sector support, particularly opening routes to reach tourist destinations in the IMT-GT region; IMT-GT Rubber Cities Cooperation, addressing collaborative efforts to accelerate the downstreaming of the rubber industry for stability and collective efforts to address the impact of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) on the sub-region; and IMT-GT E-Commerce Platform, discussing the development of the IMT-GT Digital Mall, where the Indonesian e-commerce platform “PADI UMKM” expressed readiness to integrate with the platform. In addition, the BIMP-EAGA & IMT-GT Blue Economy Strategy 2030 topics were also discussed in the IMT-GT forum.

The meeting was attended by several Senior Officials, including Hon. Dr. Edi Prio Pambudi, Deputy Minister for International Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Coordinating Economic Affairs of Indonesia; Hon. Datuk Dr. Zunika binti Mohamed, Deputy Secretary-General, Ministry of Economy of Malaysia; Hon. Dr. Wanchat Suwankitti, Deputy Secretary-General, Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, Thailand; the Indonesian National Secretariat; Netty Muharni, Deputy Assistant for Regional and Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Coordinating Economic Affairs of Indonesia; the Asian Development Bank (ADB); and the Center of IMT-GT (CIMT) as the IMT-GT Joint Secretariat. The Indonesian delegation comprised representatives from the Ministry of Coordinating Economic Affairs, all Sectoral Ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Local Governments, the business sector, universities, and others.