His Excellency Prof. Dr. Pham Vu Luan, Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam and President of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Council, commended the six SEAMEO Centers in Indonesia for their concerted efforts in contributing to attaining SEAMEO’s goals and addressing the concerns of their respective stakeholders in the region during a meeting held at SEAMOLEC on 29 January 2015. The meeting was part of the SEAMEC President’s official visit to Indonesia from 28-30 January 2015.

The six SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia are the Regional Centre for Tropical Biology (BIOTROP), Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition (RECFON), Regional Centre for Open Learning (SEAMOLEC), and the three Regional Centres for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Language, Mathematics, and Science.

Prior to the meeting, H.E. Pham Vu Luan got acquainted with the programs, products and services of the six Centres through an exhibition set up at SEAMOLEC lobby.  In going through each exhibit booth, the SEAMEC President was also informed about the completed and ongoing collaborations of the six Centres with several academic and research institutions in Vietnam.

During the meeting, SEAMOLEC Director Dr Gatot Priowirjanto introduced the SEAMEC President to the proposed collaborative program among the six Centres called SEA Digital Class.  This program aims to increase knowledge sharing, education and collaboration among teachers and students in the Southeast Asia region. H.E. Phan Vu Luan appreciated the dedication of the six Centres in finding ways to collaborate with each other within SEAMEO’s three areas of concern i.e., education, science and culture, despite the differences in their areas of specialization.  He encouraged the officials and staff members to continue this good practice and be a model for other SEAMEO Centres and countries to follow.

For SEAMEO BIOTROP in particular, H.E. Phan Vu Luan recognized the Centre’s efforts in improving the status of its bi-annual scientific journal, BIOTROPIA, to becoming the only international journal in tropical biology in Indonesia which is indexed by SCOPUS since 2012.

The SEAMEC President was accompanied by Dr. Tinsiri Siribodhi, Deputy Director for Administration and Communication, SEAMEO Secretariat; Mr. Tran Ba Viet Dzung, Advisor to the Minister on SEAMEO and ASEAN Affairs, Ministry of Education and Training (MOET); Mrs. Phung Thi Hong Van, Senior Officer at MOET’s International Co-operation Department; Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Nam, Editor in Chief of the Education and Times Journal; and Mr. Nguyen Dang Khue, Lecturer at Hanoi University of Foreign Studies.