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orgeous landscapes, with thick forests and wonderful wildlife, are added values that can be enjoyed by students going to New Zealand to pursue their studies.

New Zealand is seeking to boost the number of its Indonesian students by standing out from the crowd of countries and offering quality higher education, emphasizing its natural beauty and high quality of life to attract visitors, as well students.

Education New Zealand, a government organization set up in 2011 to promote, develop and market international education in New Zealand, said that Indonesia is an attractive market in which to expand.

'€œSo we see both Indonesia and Malaysia as important countries where we want to generate more awareness of New Zealand,'€ John Goulter, Education New Zealand'€™s General Manager for the Government and Partners team, said recently during a media visit in Auckland, New Zealand.

The number of Indonesian students in New Zealand generally hovers around 800, according to Goulter. In 2013, there were 740 students, a slight increase over 2012'€™s number of 666 and 2011'€™s number of 677.

Despite fewer Indonesian students in New Zealand compared to Singapore and Australia, which are the traditional destinations for Indonesian students, Goulter noted a steady growing number of Indonesian youth pursuing study in his country.

'€œIndonesia is a new territory for New Zealand. We are only starting to be visible in Indonesia. It'€™s still early days.'€

In an effort to woo Indonesian youths, the institution is using a different approach. Instead of competing directly with other countries in a big education fair, Education New Zealand prefers a more personal approach and utilizes New Zealand'€™s tourist attractions, with its world-famous landscapes and burgeoning movie industry following the blockbuster Lord of The Rings trilogy, according to Education New Zealand communications head Heidi Stedman.

'€œWe'€™re trying to find distinctive ways to stand out from the crowd,'€ she said.

Goulter said that Education New Zealand emphasized New Zealand'€™s unique geography, which is small in both size and population and far from everywhere, as a selling point.

'€œ[We attract students with] the quality of education and the experience of living in a small, friendly, very accessible country, which is quite a different experience from studying in the US,'€ he said.

With its small size, the country of 4.5 million people only has eight universities, all of which are public universities.

All New Zealand universities are featured in the 2013 QS World University Rankings Top 500. Two-thirds of New Zealand universities are featured in the 2013/14 Shanghai Jiao Tong Top 500. The prestigious Legatum Institute in London rates New Zealand'€™s education system as the finest in the world.

Moreover, over the next few years, Education New Zealand will be holding a number of education fairs as well as government-to-government visits to raise the profile of New Zealand.

In order to achieve that, in 2013, Education New Zealand established its first full-time education manager position in Jakarta to raise awareness of educational opportunities in the country.

The government will also give highly qualified Indonesians up to 50 scholarships for postgraduate studies at the country'€™s universities. Successful applicants are entitled to full tuition fees, an establishment allowance upon arrival in New Zealand, a living allowance to cover day to day costs and return air travel. The application deadline for studies commencing in 2016 is April 30 (contact www.nzembassy.com/indonesia).

'€œI strongly encourage qualified Indonesians to apply for this scholarship so you can gain a world class education in our beautiful country that truly embraces new thinking,'€ said Trevor Matheson, New Zealand Ambassador-designate to Indonesia.