Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Malaysia Organise Webinar on the Sustainability of the Energy Sectors Globally amid COVID-19

6/9/2020 12:00:00 AM

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Virtual press conference of the Talk Series 2020, attended by UTP Vice-Chancellor Prof Ts. Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib (left),

and Rector of AJCUI, Dr. A Prasetyantoko (right)

  

Jakarta, 9 Juni 2020 - Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia (AJCUI) and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) of Malaysia will be organizing ‘Talk Series 2020’ with the theme “Navigating to the New Normal: Rethinking the Role of Energy towards Global Sustainability”.

 

As we all realize, the global economy has been drawn into a state of uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has significantly caused turmoil to the society, health sectors, economics, and government worldwide. Amid the extraordinary challenges and uncertainty, leaders across the globe are under pressure to make decisions on managing the pandemic‘s immediate impact and its consequences, which will, in particular, shape the world in years to come. To a certain extent, this moment also challenged the leaders and governments to seek and evaluate decisions and policies on how to make a more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable system.

 

The Talk Series 2020 is aimed to gather together interested parties – industry players, academics, university students, to participate in the current global development in the Global, Regional Economy and Sustainability Practices, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus will be on how the pandemic has impacted on the sustainability of the Energy Sectors.

 

Speaking at the virtual press conference of the Talk Series 2020 held today, UTP Vice-Chancellor Prof Ts. Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib, warnings of an imminent global recession have been ringing louder than before. With key economic data worldwide continuing to disappoint amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, experts say the worst is yet to come. The global economy is now slowing down, and some sectors have even collapsed. Until now, there is no scientific prediction as to what the world can rely on. The vaccine and medicine are still far from expectation, and the uncertainties are certain now.

 

“Does the world still have a future? Is it still relevant to talk about sustainability; even Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How then does the energy sector play its role amid this situation? Will there be a new normal for the energy sector in the coming future? How do energy industries and governments cope with this situation? These issues need special attention, and AJCUI and UTP are at the front line to provide a scrutinized view of these issues,” he said.

 

Dr. A Prasetyantoko, Rector of AJCUI, sees the importance of the webinar, “This webinar comes at the right time when the world is looking for some insightful views to cope with the current crises and future challenges. The serial topics of the webinar are not only important to update our knowledge and awareness, but also to inform public sector policies as well as private corporate decisions. We also acknowledge that the speakers are those with competence, experience, and professionalism in their fields.”

 

The AJCUI Rector also mentions that this is the moment for Indonesia and Malaysia to work hand in hand, as a close neighbor country sharing similar characteristics, trying to understand this tough situation, and formulate ideas and plans to develop together.

 

On the collaboration of the two universities, he says, “It is always a good initiative to collaborate with institutions and colleagues with expertise, experience, and competence like UTP. We are honored to have an opportunity to work with the university, and we hope our collaboration can be intensified and extended not only for today but also for the future. We are now moving along the right track of collaboration to the goal we have set. We do appreciate all initiators working behind this collaboration, especially the Faculty of Economics and Business of AJCUI with its special think tank group on sustainability studies—the SDG Analytics.”

 

As a step to provide human resources who are concerned with SDGs issues, the Faculty of Economics and Business has added study material on sustainable development goals (SDGs) to their curriculum. The material is devoted to sharpening their knowledge of economic growth and productivity through improving the quality of technology and innovation. The primary purpose is to encourage the Development Economics study program graduates to become a financial analyst in the future global framework of human development. It also helps prepare human resources that concerned about SDGs issues and apply them at the program level, industry implementation, and financial policy.

 

 

"We want to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth by enriching the curriculum of development economics study programs. This is our contribution to society and the country. " said the dean of the AJCUI Faculty of Economics Dr. Irenius Dwinanto Bimo, SE., M.Sc.

 

 

Collaboration between AJCUI and UTP

 

This talk is part of a close collaboration between both the universities, sparked from an initial matching grant partnership, led by Associate Professor and Dr. Endang Sulistyaningsih of AJCUI, and Dr. Ting Ding Hooi of UTP as well as a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two universities.

 

With the signing of the MoU on 20 May 2020, both institutions have agreed to establish a program of academic and research cooperation which includes, but not limited to, exchange of scientists and faculty members, exchange of students, exchange of teaching materials and scientific information (including for internship, research attachment, capstone projects, and academic visits), development of collaborative graduate and postgraduate courses, including joint supervision of postgraduate students; joint research projects which may include sharing of facilities and equipment and matching of research grants), joint publications, joint cultural programs, and joint conferences and workshops. This cooperation reflects the willingness of both institutions to contribute their resources to enhance international education and understanding.

 

The webinar series is a joint initiative of the two universities in the South East Asian region to strengthen partnership and cooperation. The collaboration will be followed by another series of activities in research, teaching, and student exchanges.

 

The speakers are the knowledgeable brains of the two universities with a long experience in the field—the top leaders, bright lecturers, real business actors in the energy sector, as well as the policymakers form the two countries of Indonesia and Malaysia.