(Istimewa via tribunnews.com)

Indonesia is set to cooperate with Australia to accelerate the development of villages nationwide.

Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Marwan Jafar has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with South Australia'€™s Employment, Higher Education and Skills Ministry and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with project management company Scope Global following his recent state visit to the region.

'€œAustralia will support us in developing a design for independent villages as the main base of national food self-sufficiency and the capacities of human resources in village working areas through training programs inside and outside the country,'€ said Marwan in a press release on Friday.

He added that the two countries should share experiences and conduct programs such as comparative studies, internships and qualified training since Indonesian villages were home to vast natural resources and had huge economic potentials, especially in agriculture.

Meanwhile, South Australia'€™s employment, higher education and skills minister, Gail Gago, said that the region had sufficient experience in managing villages to support local economic development.

'€œHopefully, the LoI signing marks the beginning of productive cooperation,'€ said Gago.

Indonesia is home to 74,093 villages that can be grouped according to characteristics and local potentials such as forest villages, coastal villages, industrial villages, energy-independent villages and traditional villages. (ags/kes)(++++)

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