President Prabowo, President Ramos-Horta Discuss Strengthening Cooperation, Domestic Research Collaboration

President Prabowo Subianto received a visit from President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta along with a number of Nobel laureates at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Friday (08/28).

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed enhancing cooperation, including through collaboration between Nobel laureates and Indonesian researchers and academics.

“I believe there is greater potential to explore in the future, especially since these Nobel laureates come from various backgrounds. Some are experts in biology, some in physics, and the others in various other fields,” Minister of Culture Fadli Zon said in his statement after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Arif Satria explained that such collaboration serves as an important foundation for strengthening the domestic research ecosystem. According to him, President Prabowo emphasized that the collaboration should be realized as soon as possible.

“It is very important that these Nobel laureates provide inspiration and become part of the ecosystem for strengthening research talent in Indonesia. The President also urges strongly that this collaboration can be carried out as soon as possible,” Arif said.

Arif noted that similar collaboration has previously been undertaken by BRIN in the development of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) technology together with Japanese Nobel laureate Susumu Kitagawa. According to him, this cooperation is being implemented through the establishment of a sister lab in Indonesia, focusing on the development of natural gas-related technologies.

“I have mentioned before that this Japanese Nobel laureate has established a sister lab in Indonesia. This sister lab in Indonesia is now preparing to produce natural gas at lower pressure using the findings from the Nobel laureate’s research,” he said.

In addition to strengthening research, Arif said that the Nobel laureates who met with President Prabowo had previously visited a conservation area in Lampung. This was also a point of attention during the meeting, particularly regarding efforts to strengthen nature conservation in Indonesia.

“The President also has a very strong commitment to further strengthen the protection of Indonesia’s flora and fauna. Those were the points conveyed by the President,” he said.

During the meeting, President Prabowo also outlined several of Indonesia’s strategic programs, ranging from food security to the development of fishing villages. According to Arif, the President also shared Indonesia’s experience in implementing the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) Program.

“The President also conveyed various strategic programs related to food security, our experience with the MBG program. He also reiterated his commitment to developing fishing villages,” he explained.

In addition to discussing strengthening research and national strategic programs, President Prabowo encouraged BRIN to continue creating innovations to address Indonesia’s disaster potential. One of the innovations highlighted is the development of earthquake-resistant modular houses whose prototypes have been built since 2021–2022.

“The President mentioned that Indonesia is located in the ring of fire, having many points which are vulnerable to disasters. Therefore, he stressed that this finding needs to be followed up with scientific studies and technological innovations in order to address, anticipate, and continuously provide solutions so that such incidents do not occur in Indonesia,” he concluded. (BPMI) (EST/TM)