Good afternoon. I am delighted to be here for the U.S. Law School Seminar and Expo. I hope that all of you enjoyed the seminar about studying in the U.S. this afternoon. I trust that your questions were answered and the information offered confirmed your desire to pursue a LLM degree in America.
I am so glad to see so many of you here today. I want to thank the U.S. law school representatives for traveling from America to be here and I also want to extend special thanks to Pak Abdul Kahar and his colleagues from LPDP for joining us at this seminar/expo. The LPDP scholarship program represents a wonderful opportunity for young Indonesians and I hope that as many scholarship recipients as possible will choose to join us to study in America.
I am extremely pleased that as a result of this event, Indonesians have the opportunity to learn more about legal studies in the United States. The legal profession is an essential component of any free society and the rule of law is critical to the health of all democracies.
This is a great time to study in the United States. The American economy is strong and continues to gain momentum. Some economists forecast that the U.S. is on the verge of a period of unprecedented growth. We have the world’s greatest manufacturing power, soaring creativity, the world’s best eco-system for innovation, and massive energy reserves. In short this is a perfect time to get a law (or other!) degree in the U.S. We are proud to have these fourteen U.S. law schools represented here today. These universities offer excellent educational opportunities and have traveled from America because they are interested in bringing more talented Indonesians to their campuses and into their classrooms.
When President Obama visited Indonesia in 2010, he stated in his speech at UI, “. . . we want more Indonesian students in our schools, and more American students to come study in this country, so that we can forge new ties that last well into this young century.” This is my priority as U.S. Ambassador and the entire U.S. Mission is committed helping each of you realize your desire to pursue higher education in America.
I hope that you will stop by the Embassy’s student visa booth at the expo today if you have questions about applying for a student visa. I am happy to share that over 96% of student visa applicants are approved for a visa and the average wait time to obtain a student visa is only 3 days from the interview. Now, without further ado, let’s open these booths…
