ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop

12 July 2019

ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop in Singapore for the First Time

SINGAPORE, 12 July 2019 — The annual ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop is held in Singapore for the first time. This is organised by the ASEAN-Korea Centre based in Seoul, in partnership with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). The first leg of the Workshop started in South Korea on 8 July and the second leg will be in Singapore from 13 to 17 July.

This is the 7th edition of the Workshop. The theme for 2019 is “Sustainable Smart Cities: Moulding the Young Pioneers of Smart & Innovative Urban Solutions”. It is chosen in line with the focus on Smart Cities which was one of Singapore’s priorities as ASEAN Chair last year. For the Workshop, 80 students from 13 countries have been selected, including one PhD candidate from RSIS, one undergraduate from the Singapore Management University, and two undergraduates from the National University of Singapore.

During the Workshop, participants will attend expert lectures, visit smart technology sites, and discuss potential areas of cooperation between ASEAN and Korea in developing sustainable smart cities. They will present their policy recommendations to strengthen the ASEAN-Korea partnership in building sustainable smart cities. There will also be cultural exchange activities to help students better understand each other and their respective countries.

The ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop was first held in Vietnam. Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines had organised it previously. It has grown into one of the leading people-to-people exchange platforms that bring together students of ASEAN, Korea, China, and Japan to discuss major global issues and raise awareness on ASEAN-Korea partnership. The ASEAN-Korea Centre will be organising the Workshop in Thailand for the 2020 edition.

“RSIS is happy to partner the ASEAN-Korea Centre in the Singapore segment of the Workshop. This year is a significant milestone as it commemorates the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-Korea Dialogue Partnership. It is important to invest in such programmes which nurture and build people-to-people exchanges in ASEAN and Dialogue Partner countries for meaningful discussions on issues that affect the youths and their own future.” — Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Executive Deputy Chairman, RSIS.

“Rapid urbanisation poses a serious challenge for Asia and the smart city may be a practical way to tackle some of the problems encountered. Singapore is a small city state and we have worked on managing the challenges posed by urbanisation and national development using technology. This can be shared with other cities facing similar difficulties.” – Dr Tan Teck Boon, Research Fellow and Coordinator of the Science and Technology Studies Programme, RSIS.

The Singapore leg of the Workshop is supported by the National Youth Council of Singapore. It has awarded a grant from the Singapore-ASEAN Youth Fund (SAYF) which supports projects aimed at promoting interaction among ASEAN youth.