Sydney-based CAUSINDY alumni recently got together for gathering with former Minister of Finance in the Indonesian Goverment, Mr Chatib Basri. The event was hosted by CAUSINDY’s major sponsor, UTS:Insearch while the intimate fireside chat was moderated by Surya Setiyaputra (CAUSINDY 2014).

Given the small group, made up of CAUSINDY alumni, UTS partners, PPIA and AIYA members, Pak Chatib was able to share his experiences of Australian Indonesian bilateral relations going back to when he was a PHD student in Canberra to today where he is a leading economic policy advisor across the region.

He spoke about the work he did while he was Minister reforming BKPM and gave his thoughts on the upcoming tax amnesty policy and the challenges the goverment might face.

On bilateral relations he said that despite the ups and downs, there is enough commonality and collective knowledge in both countries to ride the wave. He hopes that both countries can build a better partnership to tackle Education problems in both countries.

CAUSINDY looks forward to hosting similar events with keynote speakers with its alumni in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta giving opportunities for young leaders to shape Australia – Indonesia bilateral relations.