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| Center of Excellence (CoE) of Paradiplomacy Professional Class (Photo: Special) |
Around thirty-two International Relations students of University of Muhammadiyah Malang (IR UMM) joining the Center of Excellence (CoE) Paradiplomacy Professional Class program were sent to nine cities and regencies in Indonesia. They will participate in the internship for four months from September to December 2023. The participants are responsible to branding the relevant cities in order to reach the international standard.
Hafid Adim Pradana, the coordinator of the Paradiplomacy CoE, said that the students will be sent to several regional governments. For example, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Surabaya, Probolinggo, and Malang. The students will also work with the Culture and Tourism Office of Banyuwangi Regency, the Tourism Office of Batu City, the Manpower Office of Jember Regency, and the Regional Development Planning Agency of Malang Regency.
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Before going to work, the students were also provided with understanding and training. The main points are related to the role of substate actor diplomacy, regulations and laws, and foreign cooperation management for local governments. In addition, the skills to inventory regional potential in relation to international standard city branding.
Meanwhile, one of the students who was assigned to Surabaya, Hilal Wahid, admitted that he was happy and challenged. Moreover, during his time there, he and his colleagues became a connector between Surabaya City and several cities abroad. "Recently, we often coordinate the sister city agenda with Kitakyushu City, Japan," he explained.
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In this partnership, he and his team focused on branding Surabaya as an international standard city through human resource development, technology transfer, tourism optimization, and student exchange. "We also help manage the strategy of developing cooperation between Surabaya and other foreign cities, including the social media strategy," Hilal concluded.
As for the Paradiplomacy CoE program, it is hoped that IR UMM students can contribute actively in the implementation of Permendagri No. 25 of 2020 regarding the Procedures for Regional Cooperation with Regional Governments Abroad and Regional Cooperation with Institutions Abroad. Thus, after graduation, the students can become young diplomats who are internationally competitive, but still strategic for regional development. (*/Wil/Put)
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