| Hakim Hayat |
SIX Bruneian students with economic and business backgrounds gained insightful knowledge and experience from their regional peers during a workshop on Asean economic engagement organised by the United States Government’s signature youth development programme – Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) – held recently in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The YSEALI Generation: ECommunity! Workshop held earlier this month brought together 80 students and young professionals with relevant experience and interests in the Asean Economic Community (AEC) and policy development process.
According to Catherine Muller, Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in Brunei Darussalam, the workshop enabled the students to gain deeper insight and interactive views into intra- AEC and US-Asean trade relationships.
Through the workshop, YSEALI members from across the region learnt more from economic experts and honed their negotiation, lobbying and advocacy skills that will enable them to make a greater impact in their communities.
Most of the participants have a passion for engaging with governments, business leaders, community organisations and youth groups to advance economic and social developments at the community, national and Asean levels.
The four-day programme was an interactive learning experience, where participants explored case studies, a model Asean Summit, as well as dialogues with business leaders, social entrepreneurs and policymakers.
They also had hands-on training on presentation advocacy and negotiation skills – all key traits that will enable the young leaders to make a profound impact in their communities.
One of the Bruneian participants, Dayangku Amal Zawanah binti Pengiran Dr Abdul Razak, a University of Leicester, UK graduate in Economics and Politics, shared that the workshop has enabled her and fellow Bruneian students to gauge more information about different economic policies across Asean and how the AEC will benefit the whole region.
“I was particularly interested to join because this workshop emphasised on community and economic engagement and gathered people from similar backgrounds,” she said.
“I really wanted to network with like-minded people to hear what their thoughts are and also the economic issues they face in their own countries.”
She also mentioned that this was her first-ever regional workshop and thanked YSEALI for giving her the opportunity to participate.
“Before the workshop, I never really had a full experience and interactions with people from other Asean member countries.
“Through this workshop, we all came together and worked on things like research, evaluating case studies, group work and presentations and I think one of the key takeaways is that even though we are of different nationalities and cultures, we are still interested in tackling similar economic issues,” she added.
Dayangku Amal praised the workshop’s emphasis on youth developments in the region, saying that this is important, as the role of youths is becoming more important and needs more awareness as well as understanding.
“Not a lot of us can fully grasp how important we are for the near future, especially in this region.,” she said.
“Asean is the 6th largest economy and 3rd largest market in the world and already more than half of us are youths under 30 years, so that is why they keep reasserting that they have to educate us because we are the people that will solve problems in the future,” she further explained.
The workshop, held for youths aged 18 to 25 years, explored the AEC and its impacts on trade and sustainable growth.
A line-up of expert speakers detailed the key concepts and intricacies of the Asean economy, and participants applied what they learnt through a series of hands-on activities, including a Asean Summit simulation.
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