Director of Public Diplomacy, Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Ani Nigeriawati (center), with Director of the Institute of Ethnicity and Religion, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Hoang Thi Lan, and Executive Director of Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office, May 2, 2025.
Jakarta, LKLB News – Five Vietnamese academics from the Institute of Ethnicity and Religion under the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics visited Indonesia to learn firsthand about Indonesia’s experience in managing diversity, particularly through the Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL) education program. Indonesia is considered successful in building social cohesion and interfaith collaboration by involving teachers and educators from across the country.
Director of the Institute of Ethnicity and Religion, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Thi Lan, said the purpose of the visit was to observe the CCRL program initiated by the Leimena Institute together with dozens of partners from educational, religious, and governmental institutions in Indonesia.
“Vietnam has many similarities with Indonesia, including in terms of religion, ethnicity, and nation-building. Vietnam is currently promoting social and economic policies to improve the well-being of all people, including through culture and moral values that contribute to the development of our homeland,” said Lan during an audience with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (MoFA RI) on May 2, 2025.
The audience with MoFA was one of the agendas for Lan and her four colleagues, namely Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Phu Loi, Dr. Nguyen Khac Duc, Dr. Do Thi Thanh Huong, and Dr. Nguyen Cong Tri. The five academics were received by, among others, Director of Public Diplomacy, Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy at MoFA RI, Ani Nigeriawati, and Deputy Director at the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Cooperation Directorate, MoFA RI, Monica Ari Wijayanti.
Director of the Institute of Ethnicity and Religion, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Thi Lan, explains about her institution to senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
During the meeting, Lan explained that the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics is a ministry-level institution under the highest leadership of Vietnam, namely the Politburo of the Communist Party. The Academy is tasked with educating leaders and political cadres of Vietnam, conducting scientific research, and providing recommendations and consultations to the Party on development policies, including in the context of ethnicity and religion.
“The CCRL program run by the Leimena Institute has become a model for us. We want to learn how to develop education, how to nurture quality human resources, because we aspire to build a united and modern nation,” said Lan.
Meanwhile, Director of Public Diplomacy, Ani Nigeriawati, said MoFA RI has collaborated with the Leimena Institute in organizing the International CCRL Conference in July 2024, which was officially opened by Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi. According to Ani, the spirit of promoting cross-cultural religious literacy is a shared interest, not only for Indonesia but also for partner countries like Vietnam, and for humanity worldwide.
“Proper literacy across religions, beliefs, and cultures can contribute to world peace. Mutual care among humankind strengthens relations between societies both bilaterally and in the global context,” said Ani.
Ani appreciated the visit of Vietnamese academics to Indonesia as part of the strategic partnership between the two countries. She promised to follow up on this visit through the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Hanoi and the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Ho Chi Minh City.
Director of Public Diplomacy, Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy at MoFA RI, Ani Nigeriawati, with Executive Director of Leimena Institute, Matius Ho.
Executive Director of Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, said he was honored to have been invited several times to speak about the CCRL program in Vietnam. By 2024, the CCRL program in Indonesia had produced more than 9,000 alumni from 37 provinces across the country.
“Vietnam increasingly recognizes the importance of religion and belief in society—how religion and religious elements can serve as unifying factors. This is where an extraordinary bridge emerges between Indonesia and Vietnam, because we have decades, even centuries, of experience in managing diversity,” said Matius.
Matius noted that 70 percent of Vietnamese people are non-religious, yet they are aware that religion has developed within society and presents unique challenges. In addition to the meeting with MoFA RI, the five academics also participated in a CCRL workshop in Semarang attended by 41 alumni teachers of the CCRL program.
The Vietnamese academics also held dialogues with several experts and government officials, including former Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab; Member of the Steering Committee of the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Development, Amin Abdullah; Indonesian Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin; Special Staff Coordinator to the Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs, Farid Saenong; Expert Staff to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Azaki Khoirudin; and Head of the Human Resource Development Agency (BPSDM) for Law, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Gusti Ayu Putu Suwardani.