An Australian university says it is months away from establishing a ¡°fully fledged¡± campus in Indonesia, as more foreign institutions eye outposts in the world¡¯s fourth most populous country.

Central Queensland University (CQU) expects to open a campus in the North Sumatran capital of Medan next February, with staff and students recruited from August this year. ¡°This will be a full-suite campus with undergraduate and postgraduate programmes,¡± said CQU¡¯s vice-president for global development, Alastair Dawson, who is visiting Indonesia for the signing of several agreements.

They include a deal to provide Australian MBAs to Indonesian government officials, in partnership with Jakarta¡¯s Bakrie University, and a A$10 million (?5.5 million) grant to support an institute of sustainable farming in North Sulawesi.

Mr Dawson said that the ¡°Triple Helix¡± project would include industry engagement and research in agricultural technology ¨C an area of strength for CQU, which is headquartered in Australia¡¯s beef farming capital of Rockhampton.

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He said he expected other universities to offer MBAs in Indonesia. ¡°But we have a unique position where we can deliver both in Jakarta and in Australia when the borders reopen. Our existing campus in Jakarta delivers master¡¯s programmes and we are about to offer some undergraduate programmes as well.¡±

CQU said that its MBA, with majors in private-public partnerships and data science, would be delivered to at least 10 officials from Indonesia¡¯s Ministry of National Development Planning each semester from March next year.

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The university said that it was negotiating similar arrangement with other ministries, corporations and banks. ¡°Although the impacts of Covid-19 have been keenly felt in Indonesia, we have still been able to deliver our executive programmes successfully online during this period,¡± said Jakarta associate vice-chancellor Hendrik Halim.

Vice-chancellor Nick Klomp, also visiting Jakarta, said that public-private partnerships and data science were ¡°fast-growing industries in Indonesia, informing a range of national development projects that are critical to the government¡¯s forward strategy¡±.

Monash University, which has claimed bragging rights for establishing the first foreign-owned university branch in the archipelago, signed a lease on its south-west Jakarta site late last year.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com