Applications are open for Youth Economic Forum 2021. Striving to create critical, intellectual, and meaningful discourse on current issues and global trends, the Youth Economic Forum – founded in 2016 by the Perdana Fellows Alumni Association (PFAA) – aims to promote new perspectives and insights on the state of the world, the economy, and society through constructive and fact-based discussions.

Striving to create critical, intellectual and meaningful discourse on current issues and global trends, the Youth Economic Forum – founded in 2016 by the Perdana Fellows Alumni Association (PFAA) – aims to promote new perspectives and insights on the state of the world, the economy, and society through constructive and fact-based discussions.

This platform endeavors to connect both young professionals and university students from across the Asia Pacific with participants from governments, academia, the private sector, and international organizations in an effort to collectively seek innovative solutions, increase mutual understanding, and bridge knowledge gaps.

About Youth Economic Forum 2021

2020 may prove to be a watershed moment that defines the 21st century as the world witness a microorganism as small as 120/1,000,000 of a metre (120 nanometre), brought a global economy as large as USD85 trillion into a standstill. Coupled with absent global leadership and cooperation, an escalating trade war and rising geopolitical tension between Washington and Beijing, the global COVID-19 pandemic has created a world that is seemingly in a structural break.

But to be sure, while many may be tempted to reason that COVID-19 itself is the inflection point that herald in unprecedented economic, social, and political crises and changes, these present dislocations, however, were already in motion prior to the pandemic. In fact, COVID-19 has only served to magnify and accelerate shifting political, economic, and social trends. These megatrends include: 1) the rise of China; 2) the increase in distrust both within and between communities (i.e. political polarisation and nationalism); 3) the widening gap between the rich and the poor; 4) the changing climate that is increasingly jeopardising the planet’s future and more. As such, the world seems poised to face an extended period of uncertainty while the poor and vulnerable may see their hopes dimmed.

Going forward, given the pervasiveness of these developments, this begs the question: how will they affect emerging economies, especially those in Emerging Asia, and more importantly, how can we navigate these uncertain and sometimes tumultuous waters? Will we be forced to eventually pick a side and which side of the divide will we need to choose. More importantly, how can Malaysia and the rest of Southeast Asia preserve its own interests while playing its part as global citizens?

To brave this new world, the Youth Economic Forum 2021 has curated Agendas, and In Conversation sessions that are centred around 5 pertinent themes: #Economics, #Geopolitics, #Sustainability, #Tech and #Empowerment. These panels are designed to further explore the various dimensions of the current geopolitical, economic, and social climate.

Benefits

• It is open to all participants at no cost.

Eligibilities

• Youth Economic Forum is open to all students and young professionals aged between 18 and 35.

Eligible Countries

Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India

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