OREANDA-NEWS. August 28, 2014. PT Pertamina (Persero) inaugurates the aid to help build the Pertamina-MBA Business Research Center, worth Rp 5 billion, at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) as part of the company’s support to the development of science and preparing leading human resources to face the ASEAN Economic Community.
 
The aid handover was conducted by Pertamina President Director Karen Agustiawan to ITC rector Prof. Akhmaloka Phd in Bandung, West Java, on Saturday (16/8).
 
In her remark, Karen said that to support the development of science, Pertamina had disbursed aid to build Pertamina-MBA Business Research Center. This building, she continued, was expected to be the center of management and business science which could be optimized as the place where capable and competitive academicians who had global competitiveness were born.
 
“All members of the ASEAN Community, especially Indonesia, have only around 4 months to prepare themselves to enter the ASEAN Economic Community. Thus, the support of capable and competitive human resources is needed by Indonesia so that the country could compete not only be trapped as a market target. For that purpose, universities are demanded to play important role and Pertamina is called to participate in developing that role through, among others, educational aids including the construction of the Pertamina-MBA Business Research Center in ITB,” she explained.
 
Pertamina as a national energy company continued to contribute to the education sector, Karen said. She expected that from the Pertamina-MBA Business Research Center, a generation with long-term vision who would create economic breakthrough which could stimulate the appearance of new welfare sources which could be optimized by this nation.
 
In the past six years, Pertamina has actively cooperated with various universities, supported by the Education Ministry, in holding National Science Olympic for university students. Pertamina has successfully boosted the interest of students in Indonesia to join science competitions where in 2013, the number of participants reached 25,000.
 
Electric Executive Luxury Car
In the same occasion, Karen also handed over 1 unit of Electric Executive Luxury Car to ITB. This aid giving was part of the company’s efforts in building the national capacity in providing electric cars as environmentally-friendly transportation vehicle. This was part of Pertamina’s commitment to develop green energy in Indonesia.
 
This aid is part of six electric cars given to six chosen universities through Pertamina’s CSR program. The universities are Brawijaya University, University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University, University of Riau, ITB and Surabaya 10 November Institute of Technology (ITS). This program is a follow up of State-Owned Ministry letter No. S-59/S.MBU/4.2013 date 24 April 2013 on the development of electric cars.
 
The universities, Karen revealed, were chosen because they already had programs related to electric cars. Electric cars from Pertamina, she went on, could be used for research and development.
 
 “This is part of Pertamina’s active participation in the development of national electric cars. Pertamina supports government programs, in this case SOE Ministry, in its efforts to develop national capacity and capability to produce environmentally-friendly transportation vehicles which are not depended on non-renewable fossil energy,” she said.