ASEAN youth fellowship deepens people-to-people ties in the region

 

Nearly 40 young ASEAN leaders, including three from Việt Nam, attend the second run of the ASEAN Youth Fellowship (AYF) programme in Singapore last week. — Photo courtesy of AYF

HÀ NỘI — Nearly 40 young ASEAN leaders, including three from Việt Nam, gathered in Singapore last week to exchange ideas and discuss issues and opportunities to work together for sustainable partnerships in the region.

The activity is under framework of the second ASEAN Youth Fellowship (AYF) programme organised by the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) and National Youth Council (NYC) that ended on Saturday.

With the theme “Partnerships for a Sustainable ASEAN”, this year’s programme focused on the importance of warm people-to-people relations to ensure the social, environmental and economic sustainability of the region.

"The ASEAN Youth Fellowship exemplifies the value of cross-cultural ties in a global landscape that is rapidly changing. We see emerging young ASEAN leaders as trailblazers with the potential to promote mutual understanding and synergise individual efforts for positive and sustainable impact,” said Jean Tan, Executive Director of the SIF.

“The AYF provides a platform to forge strong youth-to-youth connections and cultivate a cross-boundary regional lens,” said David Chua, Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Council.

“The young leaders continue to actively maintain their ties, activate their network to solve work-related issues and some even collaborated on social impact projects.

The week-long programme included a series of dialogues and learning journeys. There was also a sharing session on sustainable business practices by DBS Bank and CapitaLand, and a visit to Semakau Landfill to learn about sustainable waste management in land-scarce Singapore.

During the Kuala Lumpur leg from October 1-3, they were hosted by Malaysian social enterprises Native and Epic Collective on a cultural learning journey with the Orang Asli community. Participants also learned about the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre’s (MaGIC) work in building a sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem in Malaysia, among other activities. — VNS