Indonesian Cultural Congress Provides New Insights: Minister

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The 2018 Indonesian Cultural Congress (KKI) on Saturday provided a lot of new insights for the society, Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said.

"We get many new things through the  public lectures, cultural speeches, and public debates during this cultural congress," Muhadjir remarked before the performance of puppeteer Ki Anom Suroto at the Indonesian Cultural Congress on Saturday.

The minster said that in addition, the participants were also presented with new experiences starting from murals, musical performances, film screenings, and various other events.

Muhadjir noted that the Indonesian Culture Congress was the mandate from the Culture Promotion Act No.5 / 2017.

"After the Law was suspended 33 years, finally last year the government succeeded in making the law passed," said Muhadjir, adding that at the congress there will be a cultural strategy which will later be handed over to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Further, the minister of education and culture expressed his hope that the culture will become the foundation of development in all aspects.

"We know that with the cultural strategy that we are planning, we will move forward with the advancement of culture," he said.

The government will also allocate special allocation funds for the promotion of culture in 2019 each city, district, and province.

In 2019 the new Special Allocation Fund for culture amounting to Rp500 billion, and the minister hopes the amount will increase in the following years.

"This shows the government is not playing games in making culture as the main stream in our lives, especially as the foundation of national development," Muhadjir Effendy said.

ANTARA