Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, and Ketua Umum Prof. Said Aqil Siradj, General Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU), Indonesia’s largest independent Muslim organization, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 11 December 2012. The MoU Signing Ceremony was attended by over 50 guests and Indonesian press and witnessed by two ministers of the Cabinet of the Republic of Indonesia including H.E. Mr. Muhaimin Iskandar, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, and H.E. Mr. Helmy Faishal Zaini, State Minister for Development of Disadvantaged Regions.

The MoU Signing Ceremony started with the recitation of some verses from the Holy Qur'an. Praising the activities of SESRIC in socio-economic and education fields, Ketua Umum Prof. Said Aqil Siradj said at the outset that the MoU between SESRIC and PBNU will give two organisations the opportunity to cooperate in various fields mainly in education and health. As one of the largest community service organisations in Indonesia, PBNU is planning to integrate the experiences of other OIC Member Countries in the expansion of its education and health services. Following Ketua Umum Prof. Said Aqil Siradj, Dr. Alpay thanked for the hospitality of PBNU and mentioned that through the signing of the MoU, both organisations proclaim their intention to take concrete steps towards cooperation on a solid basis. Dr. Alpay added that the first activity to be held within the framework of the MoU will be the visit of a PBNU delegation to Turkey with a focus on health and education.

The PBNU network covers 30 regions with 339 branches, 12 special branches, 2,630 representative councils and 37,125 sub-branch representative councils across Indonesia. The PBNU also has made substantial charitable contributions to Indonesian society in educational development, health care, and poverty alleviation.

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