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Indonesian Delegation To Visit North Carolina


Contact: 
Katie Mosher, 919/515-9069

posted Tuesday February 3, 2009

A delegation of Indonesian officials will visit North Carolina this week to discuss research, policy and coastal communities. Widi A. Pratikto, Secretary General of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), leads the group. He received his doctorate at North Carolina State University in 1992.

Pratikto studied here under Margery Overton and participated in a coastal engineering project funded by North Carolina Sea Grant. Upon graduation, he returned to Indonesia where he founded the Sea Partnership Program, modeled after the Sea Grant network that links universities to real needs in coastal ecosystems and economies. In recent years, his focus has included the country's first coastal zone management program, and a partnership with the United States for a new tsunami warning system.

In this trip, Pratikto is bringing six MMAF officials with responsibilities in international cooperation, research, fisheries, data and planning. The group plans to meet with N.C. Commerce Secretary J. Keith Crisco, NC State Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Larry Nielsen and Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies Terri Lomax. The group also will meet with Sea Grant staff, researchers and partners in Raleigh, as well as specialists based at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

"We are pleased that the connection will extend beyond the Sea Grant program to include broader topics for the university and state government," notes Michael Voiland, North Carolina Sea Grant Executive Director.

Bailian Li, NC State Vice Provost for International Affairs, is pleased that Pratikto has maintained strong connections here, stating, "He is an excellent example of how NC State alumni are impacting real-world development and sustainability issues through building international connections with NC State."

The Indonesian MMAF delegation also includes:
·    Soen’an Hadi Purnomo, Director for the Center of Data, Statistics and Information
·    Dedy Heryadi Sutisna, Secretary for Directorate of Capture Fisheries
·    Ismayanti, Deputy Director for International Cooperation Division
·    Sri Atmini, Head of Program Planning Division, Directorate General of Coasts and Small Islands
·    Elvi Wijayanti, Head of Research Program Cooperation Division
·    Rudi Alek Wahyudin, Assistant Deputy Director for Program Planning, Planning Bureau

The group also is spending several days meeting with officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Md.

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