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he Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) wants Indonesian scientists living abroad to come back home.

Former president and AIPI cofounder Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie said Indonesia'€™s rich natural resources must be matched by outstanding human resources to significantly impact the country.

'€œI am very sure '€” like I am sure it'€™s going to be dark in a few hours '€” that Indonesia will have a bright future with outstanding human resources,'€ Habibie said at the academy'€™s plenary meeting on Sunday afternoon at his residence in Central Jakarta.

He said quality human resources would create innovation that would enhance the country.

Habibie cited several examples of science academies in other countries, such as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the US, which has played a big role in driving the country'€™s development.

The Indonesian third president also urged the state-funded academy to increase its membership, which currently stands at just 53 members.

'€œWith less than 100 members to serve 250 million Indonesian people, you cannot expect much. I want [the academy] to have 1,000 members,'€ he said, adding that 25 years ago such a goal would have been impossible, but today was attainable due to the large number of college graduates.

Habibie reminded all members to avoid meddling in politics as it could hinder the academy aim to spread knowledge on the sciences within Indonesian society.

The AIPI is a government-funded organization composed of Indonesia'€™s most reputable scientists. Members issue policy briefs and are consulted by government on issues pertaining to science and technology.

The academy was founded in 1990 with the issuance of Law No. 8/1990, which became the academy'€™s legal foundation.

Since the first year of its establishment, Habibie, then research and technology minister, has made bringing Indonesian scientists living abroad back home a top priority.

'€œI invited individuals like Pak Sangkot Marzuki. I told them that I could not promise them much, but that I supported their return to Indonesia,'€ Habibie said, referring to the AIPI'€™s current chairman, Sangkot Marzuki, who was then working as a professor at Monash University in Australia.

During the plenary meeting, which was also conducted in preparation for the academy'€™s 25th anniversary, set to take place in October, 10 new members were confirmed; five from the hard sciences and another five from the social sciences.

In his opening remarks, Sangkot recalled the academies'€™ contribution to the development of the sciences in Indonesia over the years.

'€œThis year we are celebrating AIPI'€™s 25th anniversary. Twenty-five years is quite a short amount of time, but the journey actually began long before,'€ Sangkot said. (saf)