BOGOR, Indonesia – Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) hosted the Ikatan Profesor Indonesia-Malaysia (IPIMA) 2013 or Forum IPIMA 2013 on 18-20 November 2013 at the IPB International Convention Center, Bogor, Indonesia. Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Education and Culture, Prof. Dr. Musliar Kasim officially opened the three-day event with the theme, "Pertanian dan Kedaulatan Pangan di Indonesia dan Malaysia,” or Agriculture and Food Sovereignty in Indonesia and Malaysia.

According to Prof. Dr. Rudy Purwanto, Secretary of IPB’s Council of Deans, "We organized this forum of the Indonesian-Malaysian Professors Association (IPIMA) recognizing that Indonesia and Malaysia face similar problems in the agriculture sector."

On the other hand, Dr. Herry Suhardiyanto, Rector of IPB, in his welcome speech expected the forum to contribute in developing the agriculture sector and food sovereignty of both countries.

In one of the paper presentations, Vice Rector of Resources and Strategic Studies of IPB, Prof. Dr. Hermanto Siregar emphasized the importance of Indonesia and Malaysia’s cooperation in strengthening each country’s efforts towards food security. According to him, because achieving food sovereignty is influenced by the internal situation of each country, joint initiatives towards food security is a better start-off point for cooperation.

Prof. Hermanto suggested that Indonesia and Malaysia may develop the bilateral cooperation in the form of Closer Economic Relations (CER) which will include commodity trading and agri-food production. The same sentiment was expressed by Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mohd Fauzi Ramlan.

Towards the end of the event, IPIMA delegates also agreed to embark on exchanges of Indonesian and Malaysian scientists, lecturers, researchers, and university students in the future.

"There will be a joint conference and collaboration in research on certain issues, such as climate change, technology innovation, and social and economic issues," Purwanto disclosed.