Voices of the Future (VOF) is an annual program in conjunction with the APEC CEO Summit that acts as a platform for all the 21 APEC economies where their young future leaders are sent off to APEC meetings to discuss, engage and build networks on global issues, talk with world leaders, as well as APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) members.
On 7th – 13th November 2011, over 80 youth leaders representing 17 economies of the APEC attended the Voices of the Future program which comprises of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, People’s Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, USA and Vietnam. Brunei Darussalam was represented by Anwar Mohammad, Founder of Society for Community Outreach & Training (SCOT), and Azmi Yassin, a Senior Advisor at SCOT.
The youth leaders brought various issues forward during the weeklong event ranging from SME development, poverty eradication, political instability and how TPP could benefit their economies. On the sidelines, the delegates were also given a taste of Hawaii and its unique culture from our visit to Kamehameha School that preserves the native Hawaiian culture, kayaking in the Pacific, being a farmer for a day in the Lo’i (crops grown in mud) and to understand the history of Hawaii at the Bishop Museum.
The event was closed with a closing ceremony event of which the culture of the 17 economies came together as one where we portrayed and shared our culture with one another to foster a better understanding of our own unique identity from each economy.
