The Budapest Business School (BGE) in Hungary has launched a Bahasa Indonesia language course.

Officially inaugurated on Tuesday by Indonesian Ambassador to Hungary Wening Esthyprobo, 39 people reportedly signed up to join the course that can only accommodate 15 people per class.

"Learning a foreign language has many advantages, especially Bahasa Indonesia, which is used as the main language of the country's 258 million citizens," said Wening, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the students could expect to learn more than just the language, namely also Indonesian culture. 

The head of the university's Oriental Studies Department, Prof. Tamas Novak, said the business school had chosen to offer the course due to Indonesia's increasing role in the world and in Asia in particular, adding that learning Bahasa Indonesia would allow smoother cooperation and social science research in the future.

(Read also: Bahasa Indonesia course to be offered at Finland university)

Mastering at least two foreign languages is part of graduation requirements for BGE students.

Due to high demand, the university is said to be considering opening a second class for Bahasa Indonesia, but currently lacks lecturers. The newly opened course will be taught by staff members of the Indonesian Embassy in Budapest, who master both Bahasa Indonesia and Hungarian.

BGE presently offers international courses and has cooperated with several Indonesian universities, such as Gadjah Mada University, Mercu Buana University and Yogyakarta Technology University.

Aside from BGE, the Indonesian Embassy in Budapest has reportedly also received a request to provide a Bahasa Indonesia lecturer for the Hajtomu Language School in Budapest. (kes)