The Directorate General of Higher Education, Research and Technology (Ditjen Diktiristek) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) held the International Student Summit (ISS) 2022 at Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) on Monday (28/11). This summit is a gathering event for international students who receive the Partnership for Developing Countries – Kemitraan Negara Berkembang (KNB) scholarship and study in Indonesian universities. Through this event under the theme “Cultural Diversity and Inclusiveness: Reducing the Gaps”, the international students are expected to broaden their knowledge and experience about Indonesian arts and culture so that they can introduce and promote Indonesia to their countries. The Director General of Diktiristek, Dr. Lukman expressed his happiness that this program could be continued after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 199 KNB awardees from 44 countries attended this activity.
Hasanuddin University, as one of the college partners of KNB, dispatched its KNB students from the Class of 2021 to participate in this International Student Summit 2022. They are Andrea Sofia Aleman Garcia (Honduras), Kanchul Louis (Gambia) and Anwar Muneer (Yemen). They spent three days meeting and connecting with other scholarship awardees from different universities and countries. As mentioned earlier, they were able to broaden their horizons concerning the diversity of Indonesian cultures.
Hasanuddin University hopes that more KNB students will study at UNHAS in 2023. This is part of soft diplomacy in which one person we invite from each country will promote Indonesia as a country that can be a good tourism and education destination for international students.