370 Million Youths Play Important Role In Shaping Asean Community

By Rosmalis Anuar PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), April 20 (Bernama) -- The 370 million youths who form 60 per cent of the total 620-million ASEAN population play a crucial role in shaping the ASEAN Community which is led by Malaysia as ASEAN chairman this year. Malaysian university, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Multimedia Technology and Communication Centre head Dr Mohd Khairie Ahmad said efforts towards regional integration in economic, political and socio-cultural aspects would be determined by this group. However, he said, several challenges had to addressed by governments in the region to meet the demands of today's youth who are better exposed to information technology, especially transparency of administration and economic disparities. "Youths are increasingly aware of transparency in administration, they not only communicate with their friends in the country on this but also with youths from other nations. "On economic disparities, it might be difficult to convince youths from developed countries to work with countries which are still developing. This is something which must be considered," he told Bernama. On the awareness of youth about the ASEAN Community, Dr Mohd Khairie said they had already been exposed to regional integration, especially through joint events like the SEA Games and student-exchange programmes. However, he said, more efforts were needed to increase their awareness and knowledge of the ASEAN Community. "In my opinion, they are ready and this can be seen in their awareness of global issues through the social media, but perhaps they are still not clear of the agenda for the formation of the ASEAN Community itself," he said. A similar view was expressed by the secretary-general of the Malaysian Youth Council (MYC), Ahmad Saparuddin Yusup who said efforts must be taken to improve the awareness of youths for the creation of the ASEAN Community to increase their participation towards integration. He said debates at the Youth Parliament recently also showed that only about 40 per cent of youths were aware of the creation of the community. He added that the MYC, with the cooperation of various parties including the Information Department and the Foreign Ministry, had held programmes at the grassroots levels to provide information on the ASEAN Community. Ahmad Saparuddin said Malaysian youths should take advantage of the country's position as ASEAN chairman to increase their participation in joint activities with youths from other countries in the region, especially in economics and job markets. He said this was among issues which should be addressed in the ASEAN Youth Forum to be held on April 20-21, which would be attended by MYC representatives. "Economics and job markets are issues which must be seen in the wider scope, especially in Cambodia and other Indo-China nations which see Malaysia as a partner in development," he said. Ahmad Saparuddin said hopefully, Malaysia would leave a significant legacy as chairman of ASEAN, specifically in championing the development of youths. The Summit Declaration on the ASEAN Community Roadmap (2009-2015) signed during the 14th ASEAN Summit Conference in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2009 outlined three pillars of cooperation - the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). --BERNAMA