UNAIR NEWS – On October 25, 2021, President Joko Widodo officially inaugurated 17 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors (LBBP RI) at the State Palace. Among the 17 names, Ardi Hermawan also took the oath of devotion to the nation and state.
That moment marked the beginning of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) alumnus’s career to carry out the task of Indonesian LBBP Ambassador for the Kingdom of Bahrain. To UNAIR News, Ardi shared his story and journey from being an Airlangga Knight to become the Indonesian Ambassador for Bahrain.
“I was in the first class of the International Relations study program in 1982. I was also the first Head of the Student Association of International Relations (IR),” recalled the master’s graduate of Monash University, Australia.
At that time, Ardi never thought he could study as an International Relations student because he previously studied Sociology at UNAIR. In 1982, FISIP UNAIR opened an IR program, and Ardi decided to change his major.
“I have always loved languages and loved to read. And I felt that IR was suitable for me. I used to read French-language magazines to find out about political news from the outside world while learning French,” said the man from Surabaya.
As an IR student, Ardi participated in many organizations and was even entrusted with the position of the first Head of Student Association. In addition to academic and organizational life, Ardi also met his wife at FISIP, an alumnus of the Sociology department.
After studying at IR UNAIR, Ardi was accepted as a staff member at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu). His skills in French, developed from a news magazine, brought Ardi to his first placement at the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Paris. In 2009, Ardi’s career took off as Deputy Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia in Tokyo, Japan.
From Tokyo, Ardi was posted in the Consul General in San Francisco until the Director of Tourism Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. The peak of his career was in February 2021, when he was nominated as the Indonesian LBBP Ambassador for the Kingdom of Bahrain.
“The process was very long. There were many considerations, and it was the President’s prerogative to choose based on the minister’s proposal. On October 25, we were inaugurated,” he said.
With this new duty, Ardi is committed to strengthening Indonesia’s cooperation and relations with Middle Eastern countries, particularly Bahrain. Moreover, Bahrain has a promising ecosystem of Islamic financial and economic services. Ardi also encouraged academic collaboration to develop between the two countries. He invited UNAIR and other educational institutions to establish collaborations with educational institutions in Bahrain.
“If UNAIR or other universities in Indonesia want to collaborate with Middle East studies, I can provide some help. There is a lot of good potential for cooperation in Bahrain,” said Ardi.
The afternoon interview ended with Ardi’s important message to students who want to achieve their dreams. According to him, students must have added value, besides capital and capacity in the fields they master. For Ardi, reading, and studying, whatever it may be, will not be in vain because this knowledge may be useful in the future.
“I used to also participate in many activities and study other fields besides IR. I had dreams too. However, I didn’t even think that at the age of 45, I could be the Deputy Ambassador of Tokyo. Even now, as the Indonesian Ambassador for Bahrain,” he said. (*)
Author: Intang Arifia
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
