The newly established Spanish language and cultural center offers Indonesians a chance to learn more about Hispanic countries.

In the constantly globalizing world, population and economic growth in Hispanic countries have made Spanish an obligatory second language in the international business sphere.

Statistics reveal that Spanish is spoken by over 420 million native speakers in 23 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. That number does not include people who speak Spanish as a second language.

The number of people that speak Spanish as a second language has reached 50 million people in the US alone. Thus, the total figure of Spanish speakers around the globe may have reached 530 million people, including those in the Caribbean and some countries in Asia

Now the second most spoken language in the world after Chinese, Spanish is also the world’s third most used language in the media, including on the Internet.

Despite the financial crisis, Hispanic countries such as Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile and Peru are still among the 50 world countries with the highest GDPs.

To tap this huge potential, three institutions in Jakarta offered services to cater to the different needs of Indonesians on mastering the language that includes further studies in Hispanic countries.

The European Indonesian Education Foundation together with language course institution Euro Management Indonesia and Spain-based Universidad Católica de San Antonio Murcia (UCAM) Indonesia International in Jakarta recently launched the Center of Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture (CELES).

“It’s a study center for Indonesians [who] wish to learn the language and the Hispanic cultures while at the same time, it functions as an exchange forum and [center of] relations between Indonesia and Spanish-speaking countries, where information on any opportunities in education, technology, social, political and economic [issues] in multi-bilateral ties are available,” said Carlos Melgares Varon, director of UCAM Jakarta.

Mi casa es su casa: Posters informing the opening of the Center of Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture (CELES) are found on a street in Jakarta.

“We hope CELES can provide positive contributions to Indonesia by preparing more quality human resources ready for the competition in this global age,” he added at the opening of the study center located in the Euro Management building in Menteng, Central Jakarta, in mid-December.

The opening ceremony was attended by representatives from the embassies of Panama, Colombia and Spain as well as the Jakarta administration.

A similarity between Indonesia and Hispanic countries, Varon believes, is their rich diversity in ethnicity, cultures and history while also being unified by a language. As a country of a predominantly Muslim population, Indonesia could also learn about the history of Islam in Granada, Cordova and Seville of Spain, he added.

The establishment of the study center is also in line with “Indonesia Movement 2030: Sejuta Indonesia [a million Indonesians] in the Heart of the World” program. The program organized by the European Indonesian Education Foundation together with Euro Management Indonesia targets 1 million young Indonesians to study abroad in the next 13 years.

“It opens up opportunities and possibilities for the exchange of students from various countries who use this language, or vice versa, as well as having a strategic role in becoming part of the push to make Indonesia an advanced and powerful country by 2030,” said Bimo Sasongko, the founder of Euro Management Indonesia.

The Spanish-speaking countries have offered scholarships programs for Indonesians wishing to pursue a higher education.

UCAM, for example, gave scholarships to Indonesian race walk athlete Hendro Yap, who won the gold medal for West Java at the 2016 National Games, to undergo a Master’s degree program in Sports Management at the university’s campus in Murcia, Spain.

Colombia also has student exchange programs between countries joining the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation. The participants are expected to learn the language and Colombian culture for three months, fully funded by the government.

Starting this year, CELES will host regular cultural exhibitions and events organized by the communities of each of the Hispanic countries in Indonesia.

— Photos Courtesy of CELES Facebook page

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Further information is available at gerakanindonesia2030.org or at Euro Management Indonesia head office, Gedung Ir. HM Suseno, Jl. RP Soeroso No. 6, Menteng, Central Jakarta.