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he Ministry of Research and Technology is trying to boost sy-nergies with other ministries and agencies to improve the quality of research in the country.

Ministry secretary-general Mulyanto told reporters on Wednesday that the ministry had agreed to collaborate with the National Education and Culture Ministry, the Industry Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, the Maritime Affairs and the Fisheries Ministry, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and the Health Ministry to help Indonesian researchers. The ministry also cooperated with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin).

“This is to follow up the 62 agreements the ministry signed with different institutions, including foreign ones, last month during the 16th Technology Day,” Mulyanto said in the sidelines of a national meeting organized by the Ministry of Research and Technology.

He added that the synergy would allow the research division of the ministry to continuously develop the national research consortium with the other ministries in order to improve four main sectors: food, energy, transportation, and health.

The technology ministry had conducted collaborative research with other ministries and institutions, for example with the Ministry of Transportation’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency in designing and operating the tsunami early warning system and with the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) in designing and testing rockets.

Research and Technology Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said in a statement that the cooperation was an attempt to support the implementation of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI). He added that the synergy would not only nurture research development, but also improve the prosperity of researchers.

Research development in the country has been under media attention due to the limited funds allocated to it as well as to the researchers. The government only allocated 0.3 percent of the state budget for research development.

The limited allocation for research development has resulted in few quality researchers and poor research infrastructure.

Suryo Hapsoro Tri Utomo, director for research and community service of the National Education and Culture Ministry’s General Directorate, said that synergy and resource sharing were the best ways to solve the problem. Limited funds allocated for research and development has also caused Indonesian researchers to join foreign research institutions.

The private sector in Indonesia still has a low interest in investing in research and development.

Kadin’s general director of the industry, research and technology division, Bambang Sujagad, said that private parties were still reluctant to invest in research and development in the country because they were not confident by the capabilities of Indonesian researchers. (msa)