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Dutch training program between Jakarta and Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, wasofficially launched onTuesday by Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki "Ahok"Tjahaja Purnama and Dutch Ambassador Tjeerd De Zwaan.

The program focuses on integrated urban water management and will allow stafffrom the city administration to spend three months in the Netherlands to learnthe best practices adopted by Dutch engineers, practitioners, administratorsand policy makers.

In an agreement signed last year, Rotterdam and Jakarta agreed to focus onintegrated urban water management, including capacity building and knowledgeexchange.

The Netherlands Education Support Office (Nuffic Neso Indonesia) iscoordinating the program from Jakarta.

'€œThis program is a perfect example of new ways of bilateral cooperation, inwhich higher education and the government work closely together in projects andprograms and in which all organizations involved contribute something to makeit into a success," said Nuffic Neso director Mervin Bakker.

Ambassador De Zwaan said the program was the fruit of cooperation between the twodelta cities of Rotterdam and Jakarta.

"It is also part of the broader cooperation between Indonesia and theNetherlands with regards to water. This cooperation is not limited to bothcentral governments but brings a wide range of actors together, knowledgeinstitutes, companies, NGOs and local governments," he said.