TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - British Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik will visit the provinces of Papua and West Papua on Nov 16 to follow up on several areas of cooperation between the governments of UK and Indonesia.

The activities are part of the regular visits to several provinces of Indonesia as stated in a press release received on Tuesday.

In West Papua Province, Malik will visit the cities of Sorong and Manokwari. He will thereafter visit Jayapura City in Papua Province. During the visits, he will meet local- and provincial-level partners and stakeholders, including business people, communities and academics.

"This will be my third visit to the Papua region since I started serving as an ambassador. My visits aim to discuss issues of mutual interest, including climate change, education and development," he noted.

Malik expressed interest in returning to the University of Papua in Manokwari City and encourage Papuan students to continue their studies in the UK, including through the UK scholarship scheme of Chevening.

"The UK supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. We consider Papua as an important area for Indonesia. We support the efforts of the Indonesian government and society to overcome the challenges in Papua region and expect the province to enjoy stability, peace, and prosperity similar to other provinces in Indonesia," he said.

The Chevening Scholarship is a scholarship program funded by the British government along with partner organizations. Indonesia was the fourth-largest recipient of the Chevening scholarship in the world.

As many as 80 packages of Chevening scholarship have been handed out to Indonesians during the 2018-2019 academic year.

The British Embassy in Indonesia continues to encourage Papuan students having strong leadership qualities to study in the UK through the UK's Chevening and Indonesia's Educational Fund Management Institute scholarship schemes in a bid to help the province realize its full potential.

ANTARA