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Located in the Discussion Room of the Department of Public Administration FIS UNP, received a cooperation visit from one of the BUMNs engaged in Transportation, namely PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Regional Division II. The presence of the KAI management group led by Eko Tjahjono, Manager of Freight Transportation of PT KAI Divre II along with the ranks namely Arif Gusman, Andrey Muharram and Azumardi Azra was welcomed directly by the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Afriva Khaidir, SH, M. Hum, MAPA, Ph.D accompanied by the Head of the State Administration Science Department (IAN), Dra. Fitri Eriyanti, M.Pd, Ph.D and Head of the IAN Lab, Rahmadani Yusran, S.Sos, M.Si and Lecturer who initiated this collaboration Dr. Zikri Alhadi, S.IP, M.A..
The Dean of FIS UNP in his speech said that UNP, especially the Faculty of Social Sciences strongly supports the implementation of cooperation between the IAN Department and PT KAI and will later be extended to all other relevant Departments in FIS UNP. Furthermore, the Dean of FIS UNP said that socially, it is very supportive of the development of rail transportation, especially how to revitalize and reactivate the railway lines that once existed and triumphed in West Sumatra. If this is realized, it will greatly support the development of economic, social, cultural and of course tourism in West Sumatera which will create prosperity for the community.
Dean of FIS UNP, will provide support both in terms of research for feasibility studies, as well as support for the development of railroad service systems to meet public / community needs. This is supported by the Head of the IAN Department who said that his party and the entire academic community are ready to realize this with various collaborative activities which will be managed by the Head of the IAN Lab and a team that is ready to provide support so that the implementation runs optimally.
Meanwhile, Eko Tjahjono, Manager of Freight Transportation of PT KAI Divre II conveyed that this collaboration plan originated from the desire to provide mutual benefits between PT KAI and partners, especially UNP, which elaborates between the world of practitioners and academics. Moreover, PT KAI plans to encourage the development of rail transportation in West Sumatra, including the reactivation of existing lines. Which hopefully can contribute to the development of economic and social mobility of the community. For that, it takes support from all parties, including from the campus community with its expertise and studies that make policy makers have strong data to implement the development plan.
Following up on the results of this meeting, Dr. Zikri Alhadi said that in the near future he would design a more detailed cooperation framework and become a reference in its implementation. The points of cooperation that have been submitted for immediate follow-up include partnership applied research cooperation, collaborative and integrated student internships, practitioner lecturers, and support for expert studies for the development of rail transportation in West Sumatra and its surroundings.
