Australian Parliament Delegates Visit UIII Campuses

On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, a group of delegates from the Australian Parliament visited the Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) in Depok, West Java, in the hope of building closer communication ties whilst also observing the progress and development of the newly-established university.

The delegation consisted of Federal Member of Paterson, Meryl Swanson MP; Senator for New South Wales, Hollie Hughes; Deputy President, Chair of Committees, Martin Aldridge MLC; Councillor for Enoggera, Brisbane City Council, Andrew Wines; and Senior Adviser to Senator Glenn Sterle, Ben Wholagan. The group was accompanied by Ashton Papazahariakis, aDiplomat from the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. .

The delegation was warmly welcomed by UIII’s Vice-Rector for Research, Cooperation, and Community Engagement, Prof. Jamhari Makruf; the UIII Academic Senate, Dr. M. Rifqi Muna; the University Secretary, Dr. Chaider S. Bamualim; and the Director of the UIII Central Library, Dr.Phil. Syafiq Hasyim.

Upon arriving at the university, the honorable guests were taken on a tour of the campus that included the UIII Central Library, the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Mosque, and the Rectorate building. A special session to learn about UIII in its entirety was also held, leveraging the communication between both parties.

Deputy President, Chair of Committees, Martin Aldridge MLC expressed his excitement on the visit, saying that the Australian Government has supported the establishment of this university since the very beginning.

"I understand that there was some history here between the Australians and the Indonesians. The Australian prime minister and the Indonesian president, some years ago, supported the establishment of this university, and so we were keen to see the progress that has been made and the future development [of this university]," he said.

He admitted that it had been a great opportunity to visit the university, during which he saw the enormous work that had been happening over the last few years. He added that UIII has enormous potential to educate students in Indonesia and also across many countries in the world.

Meanwhile, Meryl Swanson observed that UIII has an incredibly impressive facility, saying that it is wonderful to see Indonesia have a premiere university that accepts postgraduate students to study here. She added that it would be great to see students from Australia come and study at UIII in the future, not only to learn more about the Islamic faith but also to study political science.

 Senator for Western Australia in the Federal Parliament, Dorinda Cox, also conveyed her positive impression of UIII, saying that it is an important feature not only for Indonesians but also for the global community.

"I think it's a real inspiration for Indonesia to have the first international university that offers Islamic studies, and I think it's honoring the Australian government's Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull [who had a] meeting with the Indonesian President and having a conversation to support [UIII]. This is critical. And It's great to see it coming to fruition," she stated.

Aiming to be a world-class university, UIII was established following the presidential decree No. 57/2016. The physical construction commenced in June 2018 and its first academic year officially began in September 2021. Currently, UIII is hosting hundreds of post graduates students, from various countries, at its four faculties, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Social Science, Faculty of Economics and Business, and Faculty of Education.

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