Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Officiated the Opening of I-Melt

Harun Nasution Auditorium, UIN News Online – Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. H. AM Fachir, officiated the opening of The 1st Indonesia-Malaysia English Language Teaching (I-MELT) International Conference, organized by UIN Jakarta and Universiti Putera Malaysia (UPM) at Harun Nasution Auditorium, Campus I of UIN Jakarta, Thursday, (16/3). Rector of UIN Jakarta Prof Dr Dede Rosyada MA also delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. Also present in the event, Deputy Vice Chancellor Universiti Putera Malaysia, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Saripan.

This international conference present a number of keynote speakers from across the globe. Among them are Prof. Fuad Abdul Hamied (Indonesia), Prof. Joko Nurkamto (Indonesia), Dr. Ikhsannudin (Indonesia), Dr. Arshad Abd. Samad (Malaysia), Prof. Carolyn Graham (US), Prof. Brian Tomlinson (UK), Prof. Alan Maley (UK), Prof. Hitomi Masuhara (UK), Dr. Ivor Timmis (UK), Jan Blake (UK) and David Reeve (Australia).

In his remarks, Fachir appreciated the implementation of this conference. “2017 will also be a special year for Indonesia-Malaysia relations. Both countries will be celebrating 60 years of the diplomatic relations establishment,” he said.

He also added that Indonesia and Malaysia have a similar challenge, “the two countries are both facing a number of global dynamism where English has become a precondition that must be fulfilled. Through this conference, we hoped that the obstacles in Mastering English language and literatures in both countries can be resolved,” he hoped. (rs)