INDONESIA PLAYS SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN WORLD OF SCOUTING by Fardah

Jakarta, April 27, 2017 (Antara) - Indonesia, with a population of over 250 million, is the world's fourth most populous country in the world after China, India, and the US.

          However, in terms of scouting, Indonesia has the largest number of scout members in the world. According to data, Indonesia had 17,200,595 scout members in 2013, and the figure increased to 21,842,404 based on the World Organization of Scout Movement (WOSM) data this year.  
     "You have half of the world's scout members. Hence, we highly respect and laud Indonesia's scouts," Paul Parkinson, chairman of the Scout Committee for Asia and the Pacific, stated on the sidelines of the Ninth Asia-Pacific Regional (APR) Scout Leaders' Summit 2017 held in Bali on April 22-25, 2017.

          Parkinson views Indonesia's scouts as having played a significant role in scout development globally.     
     During the opening of the summit, he expressed pride and happiness on Bali hosting the four-day event.

          "It is an honor and a matter of pride for the Indonesian scout movement to host the Asia-Pacific Scout Leaders' Summit," he said.

          Parkinson expressed hope that the Indonesian scout movement would always be able to play an important role in the field of scouting globally.

          Indonesia has the highest number of scouts in the world. Of the total 109 million young people in Indonesia, 21.8 million are scout members. The ratio is 1:5, which means that one in every five Indonesians is a scout member, according to Brata T. Hardjosubroto, chairman of the organizing committee of the APR Scout Leaders' Summit 2017.