Wamenkeu Suahasil's Dialogue With LPDP Students In Japan: Come Home And Build Indonesia

Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Finance (Wamenkeu) Suahasil Nazara held a dialogue with scholarship recipient students during a series of working visits to Japan this weekend. On this occasion, Suahasil reminded to learn what had been done during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said, the policies and steps taken by the government were taken in an extraordinary manner so as to provide valuable lessons and make the pandemic a momentum to carry out structural reforms.

Generation you will take care of Indonesia in the next decades. Don't forget quickly, learn what happened, learn what you did, evaluate. Don't worry about thinking critically in the right corridor," he said in a press statement, quoted on Sunday, December 4.

Suahasil explained that one of the reforms carried out was to improve the quality of Indonesia's human resources (HR) through the provision of LPDP scholarships. The Deputy Minister of Finance explained that the LPDP scholarship funds came from the APBN which were set aside little by little every year, then placed in a trust fund as an education endowment fund.

Eternal funds until the end of this year amounted to Rp120 trillion. The proceeds from the management of the funds are used to finance schools, the Rp120 trillion cannot be used. For this reason, scholarship recipients must return to Indonesia and contribute and develop the country after completing education," he said.

This contribution, he continued, does not have to work in the government but is in accordance with the expertise and fields of each, so as to be able to create a positive and optimal multiplier effect for the prosperity and welfare of Indonesia.

"We believe that if it is used in the field of education, then the multiplier effect is doubled. All kinds of studies regarding the educational impact show that investment in the field of education is a very high rate of return," he said.

Suahasil hopes that the scholarship recipients can take lessons from the pandemic by improving and evaluating the incident, then providing new ideas. Students are expected to be able to think critically in a good corridor, establish good relations with other fellow students, and take inspiration from other countries.

"Embrace the diversity, go get your degree, we build Indonesia together," concluded Deputy Minister of Finance Suahasil Nazara.