Many attaches cannot speak English: Foreign Ministry

Bagus Budi Tama Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/17/2010 9:41 PM

Many Indonesian attaches lacked basic competencies, some were even unable to speak English, an official said Wednesday.

“Incompetent Indonesian attaches keep disrupting the goals set by our ambassadors,” said Imran Cotan, the secretary general of Foreign Ministry, during a hearing at the House of Representatives.

“I found a number of our attaches are poor at speaking English. Every time their counterparts from the home government wanted to meet them, they freak out, seeking ways to avoid the meeting like asking for ‘bed-rest’ recommendation from the doctor."

Imran, along with a number of top officials from other ministries, attended a hearing with the members of House Commission I on information, defense, and foreign affairs to evaluate the performances of Indonesian diplomats.

Imran said that the selection process for attaches was the responsibility of the attaches’ original institutions.

He suggested that government agencies use the minimal Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of 550 as one of the requirements to make candidates eligible to be posted as attaches.