"The world will see Indonesia as a powerful country."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has been considered suitable to become the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for the East Asian region.

"It is a pride that Indonesia has been considered by the ICTP and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a suitable place," head of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) Djarot Wisnusubroto said here on Monday during a workshop entitled "Entrepreneurship Physicists and Engineers from Far Eastern Developing Countries."

He said the plan has been supported by the Reseach and Technology Ministry, universities such as UI, ITB, UGM, ITS and others which are under the Education and Culture Ministry`s Higher Learning Institute Directorate General, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Technology Assessment and Application Agency (BPPT.

"The world will see Indonesia as a powerful country in the field when it becomes the theoretical physics centre in Eastern Asia," he said.

The assessment was made based on the country`s good scientific infrastructure, such as laboratories and adequate human resources, he explained.

Sharing his opinion, BATAN`s Basic and Applied Research division head Anhar Riza Antariksawan said that the ICTP will bring benefits to Indonesia, such as improving human resources capacity in th fields of science and physics and increasing interactions between Indonesian and international scientists.

"Indonesia will be `the magnet` for international scientists since there are a lot of events to be held in Indonesia," Antariksawan said.

He added that the program has already brought benefits to Indonesia, such as around 400 scientists from the country have so far enjoyed ICTP programs while others becoming lecturers at ICTP.

Meanwhile, a physics expert from University of Indonesia (UI), Muhammad Hikam, expressed hope that through the workshop experts would be trained to turn their knowledge into inventions needed by the market.

"So far a lot of scientists have made many discoveries, such as electric ferro for solar cell, but they have ended up only in journals and patents. I hope that through this workshop, we are trained to be ableto turn the discoveries into concrete products for the people," he said.
(U.J010/KR-BSR/H-YH)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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