KATHMANDU, NEPAL, TEVRI-TV.COM,- November 1, 2026
The Indonesian Mountaineering Federation (Federasi Mountaineering Indonesia / FMI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday (31/10/2026). The signing took place on the sidelines of the UIAA General Assembly 2026, hosted this year by NMA.
NMA is Nepal’s national alpine association, established on November 1, 1973. The organization works to advance mountaineering in the Himalayas, climbing sports, mountain tourism, and conservation of the mountain environment, while equipping Nepalese climbers with mountain skills. The idea for the International Mountain Museum in Pokhara originated from NMA, and to this day the association runs tiered mountaineering training programs.
The MoU is not structured as a list of activities. It serves as an umbrella agreement: it defines areas of cooperation rather than program details. The agreed field is high-altitude rescue, with training and certification as main components, and High Altitude Mountain Rescue as the priority for 2027-2028.
The most promising area to be explored is joint expeditions. NMA is no stranger to such a format: it has previously carried out joint Nepal-Korea expeditions to Jugal and Nepal-China expeditions to Luodu. For FMI, this path means direct experience in Himalayan terrain, while the Nepalese team gains insight into Indonesia’s tropical volcanic terrain and vast archipelagic landscape.
From the Indonesian side, attendees were Head of FMI Delegation Brig. Gen. (Mar) Sandy Muchjidin Latief, S.I.P., M.M.; Secretary General Dr. M. Iqbal El Mubarak, Sp.B-ET, FINACS; Vice Secretary General Col. (Mar) Arief Rahman Hakim, http://M.Tr (Opsla)., http://M.Han; Head of Research, Development and Innovation Division Dr. Putro Setyobudyo Muhammad, MBL, CIHL; and Head of Foreign Relations Bureau Zulfahmi Ramli. From NMA, President Phur Gelje Sherpa and Secretary General Rajendra Bahadur Lama were present.
Chairman of FMI, Maj. Gen. (Mar) Ret. Buyung Lalana, S.E., positioned the cooperation as part of building sustainable mountaineering governance.
“Indonesia’s experience in the Ring of Fire needs to be brought together with the world’s best practices. With NMA, what we learn is not only the technique, but how a national association maintains its skill standards from generation to generation,” he said.
The core of the cooperation is knowledge transfer, and it goes both ways. Instructors from Nepal will come to teach in Indonesia, while FMI’s experience in managing trails on volcanoes in the Ring of Fire, tropical forests, and an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands becomes learning material for them. It is not just about adopting standards, but also contributing.
What is most awaited is the part after the ceremony: the program structure under the umbrella, including when the first training will be held and to what extent the joint expedition plan can be implemented in 2027-2028.(Ine)
