Forum opens with emphasis on youth
HANOI — Common objectives and challenges for member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and how the region can forge ahead through the fourth industrial revolution dominated the discussion on the first day of World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2018.
More than 1,000 participants joined the open forum: “ASEAN 4.0 for All?”, which officially kick-started the event on Tuesday in Hanoi.
Speaking at the forum, Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh stressed the importance of the fourth industrial revolution for countries in the region, including Vietnam.
The minister said it “presents both opportunities for growth and challenges, especially for the region’s young people”.
“Vietnam has high hopes for startups and business to be the driving force for economic growth and sustainable development,” he added.
Chu urged delegates to focus on ideas and initiatives which bolster cooperation between countries in the region as well as with international partners to transform Southeast Asia into one of the world’s startup hubs.
The forum’s discussion panel, which saw the participation of noted figures in education, business and technology, talked about common objectives and challenges for ASEAN countries and how the region can forge ahead.
Annie Koh, vice-president for the Office of Business Development and academic director of the Singapore Management University, echoed Chu when she said young people across the 10 ASEAN member states would be the ones who decide the future of the region.
“We need to unlock the enormous entrepreneurial skill within ASEAN,” Koh said.
She said there was a need to promote an ASEAN identity, an ASEAN way and crosscultural movement and exchange of students between countries.
Rajan Anandan, Google Managing Director of Southeast Asia and India, said the region had enormous potential for digital growth, citing Vietnam as one of the examples for ASEAN’s entrepreneurial spirit.
“When it comes to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, at the core of it is a digital economy and when you think about ASEAN with the 10 countries combined, the digital economy is quite sizable and it’s growing rapidly,” he said.
Anandan said it was important for the region to establish an integrated digital economy in which the free flow of data, seamless payments, goods and services across countries are ensured.
Answering a question from the audience on the topic of how young students could best prepare and adapt for employment opportunities in the future, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahma, the Malaysian minister of youth and sports, said: “The coming tech era falls right in the younger generation’s expertise.”
He said young people must find their passions and not be shy of taking risks in their career development.
The ASEAN was founded in 1967. It groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.