JAYAPURA - New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia, Kevin Jeffery Burnet held a meeting with the Acting Assistant for Government Affairs of the Papua Regional Secretary, Yohanes Walilo, to discuss the possibility of continuing the work program that had been carried out in previous years.
"We are happy to meet representatives of the Papua Provincial Government where we get information about Papua's flagship program."
"So we are exploring the possibility of (continuing) cooperation that has been carried out before," explained Ambassador Kevin Burnet to the press, on the sidelines of his visit at the Governor's Office, Soa Siu Street, Dok II, Jayapura City, Wednesday (7/2/2024).
Ambassador Kevin also ensured that his party was ready to encourage cooperation in the field of development widely in Papua. Among them are the provision of scholarships for Papuan students, economic empowerment of Papuan women, increasing the capacity of human resources (civil servants), and access to clean water.
"Indonesia and New Zealand have very good bilateral relations. A major component of cooperation between the two countries is the development program. We are pleased that part of our development program is being carried out in Papua."
"For this reason, we hope that there can be a visit from the Papua Provincial Government to discuss the continuation of our cooperation program in 2024," he hoped.
Assistant of Papua Provincial Government, Yohanes Walilo welcomed the New Zealand Government's offer of cooperation in Cenderawasih Earth. Nevertheless, his party still encourages cooperation, aligned with programs from the Central Government through Bappenas RI.
"We had a lot of discussions, Ambassador Burnet asked why New Zealand likes to come to Indonesia, especially Papua to cooperate. Because there are cultural similarities between Papua and New Zealand."
"There is an offer of cooperation in the economic sector, they want empowerment for Papuan women in terms of the creative economy. There are also offers for the field of education, but an increase in civil servants' human resources for Masters and Doctoral scholarships. But everything that is cooperated also cannot be separated from the national program planned through Bappenas," he said. ***