Why Is The 2020 Asean Youth Leaders Conference So Important For Menpora Zainudin?

(Photo: Egan / kemenpora.go.id)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Indonesia Zainudin Amali emphasized the importance of cooperation in the youth sector to increase ASEAN awareness in society. This was conveyed by the minister when giving a virtual speech at The Asean Youth Leaders Conference 2020, Tuesday (3/11) afternoon.

The Indonesian Menpora said, in the 2016-2020 Asean Work Plan on Youth, Indonesia emphasized three things. First, promoting understanding of different cultures for lasting peace.

"Indonesia has promoted interfaith dialogue and multiculturalism both at the national and international levels as an integral part of the cultural heritage of the Indonesian people," he said.

"For this reason, the Indonesian government strengthens a culture of peace among the younger generation. In the ASEAN context, Indonesia has strengthened communication networks between interfaith youth in the Southeast Asia region to increase the values of life in peace and harmony of religious communities," he added.

Second, he continued, the government provides opportunities for Asean youth to communicate with each other and to communicate will increase the possibility of achieving mutual understanding among youth.

"Therefore, in the 2016-2020 Asean Work Plan on Youth, Indonesia encourages the implementation of a people-to-people exchange program," he said.

In 2019, Indonesia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized the Asean Youth Ambassador which aims to involve high-achieving youth throughout the country to disseminate information about Asean to the public and youth. It also aims to embrace youth with a good understanding of Asean.

"We have chosen three Indonesian Asean Youth Ambassadors. We sincerely hope that other Asean member countries can also participate in the election of Asean Young Ambassadors in other Asean Member Countries to form a network of youth representatives in the region," he explained.

Still he said, Third, Indonesia encourages increased economic independence and entrepreneurship of young people to improve their capabilities and self-esteem to move towards sufficiency in the labor market and we are happy to continue holding the Asean Youth Expo.

"Youth entrepreneurship is one of the five priorities of the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports for 2020 to 2024. Our goal is to empower youth to be creative, innovative, independent, competitive, and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurial enthusiasm must be nurtured from an early age," he said.

In addition, to boost the spirit of young entrepreneurs, the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports also appreciates the achievements of young entrepreneurs every year. "Asean itself is well-known for its quality of business and entrepreneurship. What we have to encourage is the mindset of young people to cooperate and exchange ideas with other young entrepreneurs to broaden their horizons and thoughts on global competition, because youth will be the driving force of the economy and the future of the nation," he said.

Indonesia hopes to build sustainable development projects in the long term, not only for our projects but also for all projects undertaken by SOMY / AMMY.

"Therefore, we underline the importance of all stakeholders, including Asean Dialogue Partners, to be involved in our project. This is very important to support the achievement of a key element in fostering a sense of the Asean community through mutually beneficial youth programs, as stated in the Asean Work Plan. on Youth 2016-2020, "he said.