SILANEWS-The Institution of Engineers Indonesia (PII) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chinese Society of Engineers (CSE) to build a platform for dialogue and exchange between ASEAN engineering organizations and the Chinese engineering community.

The signing was carried out by the Chairman of The Institution of Engineers Indonesia (PII) Dr. Ir. Danis Hidayat Sumadilaga, M.Eng.Sc, IPU, ACPE, ASEAN Eng, and International Cooperation Committee Chairman of CSE Mingshan Lin during the 41st ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organization (CAFEO) Conference at The Westin Bali, Thursday (23/11/2023).

PII Executive Director, Habibie Razak, IPU, APEC Eng, ACPE, CPEng, EngExec, IntPE (Aus) revealed that the idea of MoU cooperation between PII and CSE emerged several months ago, through the AFEO Secretariat.

Besides PII, the parties that have previously signed the MoU with CSE include The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Philippine Technological Council (PTE) and several members of AFEO.

“PII also certainly does not want to be left behind, with considerations that indeed the government and the Chinese private sector are focused on investing in Indonesia,” said Habibie Razak when interviewed by Construction Media at The Westin, Nusa Dua, Bali, Thursday (23/11/23).

According to Habibie, when investing in Indonesia, they will mobilize their engineers from China. Thus, the engineers from China are expected to be registered under PII, before working on the project.

“If there are engineers from abroad such as China, it is hoped that they will also become part of PII membership,” he said as reported by konstruksimedia.co.id.

The second point of this MoU cooperation, Habibie hopes that it will increase knowledge exchange and technology exchange for national engineers. Because, it cannot be denied that engineering technology in China is currently developing very rapidly.

He believes the MoU between PII and CSE will benefit Indonesian engineers.

“When we can form a platform in the framework of knowledge sharing, including technology exchange, so the technology they implement in China, we can also get it, learn it, we can implement it in Indonesia,” he explained.

The third core point of this MoU is that PII sees the business opportunity aspect. In this case, PII is not just a forum for registering engineers to become members of the association and certified as professional engineers at PII.

“I think this MoU can provide more opportunities for our engineers who are doing business in the engineering sector to use this MoU and opportunity to work with engineer friends from China, through the MoU between PII and CSE,” he said.

Regarding the issue of mobilizing Chinese engineers to work on Indonesian projects, PII expects that engineers from China in the future must first ask PII for permission. Of course, this is in accordance with the points contained in Law Number 11 of 2014 concerning Engineering.

So, foreign engineers who practice engineering in Indonesia, must have an engineer registration certificate or must have an engineering practice license from the local association, in this case from PII.

“Therefore, we don't want them to just enter without prior registration with PII. This is what the law states, which mandates PII to screen foreign engineers who will practice engineering in Indonesia,” he said.

“For example, one Chinese engineer who has engineering experience can be accompanied by several Indonesian engineers, so that an exchange of ideas and insights can occur between our engineers and engineers from China,” Habibie Razak concluded.