Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The construction of the Indonesia International Islamic University (UIII) building would start in September, following the groundbreaking ceremony led by President Joko Widodo in June.

The UIII construction team has reported the progress of the international university opening to Vice President Jusuf Kalla here on Thursday.

"We have held a comprehensive meeting on the implementation of the project. I was earlier responsible for the land release and now for the structure," Minister of Empowerment of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform Syafruddin stated.

The ministry is still evaluating the number of lecturers for the university, including those from foreign universities, he noted.

"This is an international university, so we will have some foreign lecturers. We will also work on cooperation with universities overseas," he remarked.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Islamic Education at the Religious Affairs Ministry Kamaruddin Amin explained that the team is working on the university`s academic curriculum, application for new students, and recruitment of lecturers.

Construction of the UIII building is expected to be complete in 2019, and by January 2020, the new campus could start its academic calendar.

"If possible, we want to start it in September 2019 or January 2020," Kamaruddin revealed.

The campus would be built in Cimanggis subdistrict in Depok, West Java, in a 142-hectare area of land, and it would cost Rp700 billion for the construction.

The university is expected to serve as a center of knowledge for Islamic world, and it would cooperate with some universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Australia.

Among the studies included in the university are Islamic Study, Humanities, Social Science, Science and Technology, Economy and Finance, Education, and Applied and Fine Arts.

Reporting by Fransiska Ninditya
Editing by Sri Hariyati, Yoseph Hariyadi

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
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