A higher education delegation from Perth, Western Australia, is visiting Indonesia from 1 to 5 May. Last year the delegation visited Vietnam and China.

Western Australia Education Minister Hon. Peter Collier MLC led the delegation, accompanied by the vice chancellors of universities in Perth.

The main agenda of the visit is to market Perth as a university city, increasing the number of Indonesian students in Western Australia. There are only 800 Indonesian students in Western Australia, despite the geographic proximity.

Perth is home to five universities: University of Notre Dame Australia, University of Western Australia, Murdoch University, Curtin University and Edith Cowan University. With an international community of 19 nationalities, Perth boasts itself as the most diverse city in Australia.

Western Australia universities cooperate with a number of Indonesian universities, in key areas such as energy, agriculture, maritime, politics and security. The partner universities are Gajah Mada University, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Airlangga University and Atma Jaya University.

Collier stated that the number of Indonesian students was in decline, having reached the lowest level in 10 years. While there are direct flights from Jakarta to Perth, the region is overlooked with Eastern cities like Melbourne or Sydney.

Perth is also considered expensive, added Paul Johnson, the vice chancellor of Australian Western University. The city has a mining and energy industry that increases living costs, although the delegation argued that the cost was becoming more affordable today.

The petroleum industry is a major component of the Western Australian economy, and Australia is aiming to be world's largest liquefied natural gas exporter by 2020. The presence of large enterprises like Chevron, Shell and Exxon Mobile is good for students, argued Johnson. Western Australian universities are also intensifying research on renewable energy to adapt to global warming, he added.

On Wednesday, the delegation is scheduled to visit Surabaya, the sister city of Western Australia. The delegation will attend a school for children with impaired hearing and Airlangga University, and will also meet with the deputy provincial governor.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.