"Researches determine the development progress of a country. Therefore, we try to cumulate all research fund allocations (at one national research body)," Ma'ruf Amin said at the third presidential debate held at Sultan Hotel in Jakarta on Sunday.
The Sunday's debate highlighted the main issues related to education, health, human resources, as well as social and culture.
The VP candidate said that the national research funds so far have not been used efficiently since they remain scattered in various ministries and government agencies.
"Therefore, we will cumulate all the funds. We will form a national research body. We will optimally use the existing National Research Master Plan to make research projects more effective and efficient," he stated.
Ma'ruf Amin, Jokowi's running mate for this year's presidential care, due to be held on April 17, stressed that the government will not establish an additional research institution, but integrate the existing ones to get the research projects done more efficiently.
"In addition, we plan to include all stakeholders, such as government officials, entrepreneurs, academics in the implementation of various national researches in order to make more developed research and enhance Indonesia's development in the future," he remarked.
According to the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, the total of research fund in 2019 amounts to Rp1.52 trillion. ***3***
Translator: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
