Indonesian can be international language: RI Commission for UNESCO

The Indonesian language has the potential to become an international language, more so than many of European languages, the Indonesian Commission for UNESCO says.

“I am optimistic that [Indonesian] can become an international language. The UN has recently denied that German is an international language because it is only used in Germany.

Ours is different, Indonesian is spoken in many countries,” commission chief Arief Rachman said Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

Arief added that it was thus important for the National Education and Culture Ministry step up efforts to promote the Indonesian language.

“Indonesian should not just be studied at schools but should also be used as an everyday language for communication,” he said.

The ministry responded by saying it planned to set up more Indonesian language and cultural centers overseas. So far, it said it has established 150 such centers in 48 countries.