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9th Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative (PDF Type, 225 kByte)

July 11, 2008

9th Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative

Addressing Economic Integration & Energy Management in East Asia

Jakarta, 11 July 2008 – The 9th Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative (HYLI) was held in Jakarta from 7 to 11 July 2008 bringing together 28 of Asia’s future leaders to develop recommendations on critical regional issues.

The 28 young leaders from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participated in a five-day program that comprised forum sessions, closed-door workshops, a press conference and a community project at the Desa Putra SOS Children’s Village.

As a result of the forum and closed-door workshop discussions, the young leaders produced a White Paper outlining valuable recommendations which were revealed at the press conference. The White Paper will be distributed to the respective governments, academics and relevant non-governmental organisations.

Said Mr Koji Hachiya, General Manager, Hitachi Asia Ltd. (Jakarta Office), “The two issues that the 9th HYLI students discussed were not easy. They were highly critical issues that Asian leaders are currently faced with. I was most impressed by the 9th HYLI students’ fresh and creative insights. Asia has bright future leaders indeed.”

The two-day forum saw influential government and business leaders from Asia share their perspectives on critical issues impacting the region today. The overall theme of the forum was Strengthening Asian Partnerships – Economic Integration and Energy Management. The specific sub-themes were:

Forum Day One – Formulating an East Asian Economic Community – Challenges and Opportunities
Forum Day Two – Energy Management for Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability in East Asia.

At the beginning of the forum, H.E. Mr Kojiro Shiojiri, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, shared his remarks mentioning that the 9th HYLI had been endorsed as an activity to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Indonesia-Japan diplomatic relationship.

H.E. Professor Dr Bambang Sudibyo, Minister of National Education, The Republic of Indonesia, was the Guest-of-Honour and Keynote Speaker for Forum Day One. H.E. Professor Dr Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, The Republic of Indonesia, was the Keynote Speaker for Forum Day Two.

Speakers for Forum Day One sub-theme were:

  • Dr Cielito F. Habito, Former Secretary of Socio-economic Planning and Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Republic of the Philippines
  • Mr Luong Van Tu, Chairman of Vietnam E-commerce Association, Vietnam
  • Professor Dr Djisman S. Simanjuntak, Chair of Board of Directors of Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Foundation, Indonesia

Speakers for Forum Day Two sub-theme were:

  • Mr Lee Yuen Hee, CEO of National Environment Agency, Singapore
  • Dato’ Ir. Pian Sukro, Chairman of Energy Commission, Malaysia
  • Dr Shigeru Azuhata, General Manager of Environmental Strategy Office, Hitachi, Ltd., Japan

The 28 young leaders also participated in a community project with Desa Putra SOS Children’s Village. The Desa Putra SOS Children’s Village was established under the umbrella of SOS Kinderdorf International (SOS-KDI), an international non-governmental social development organisation founded since 1949 by Austrian Dr Hermann Gmeiner for children without parental care and children of families in difficult circumstances.

The objective of the community project was to instil awareness of the environment, especially water pollution in Asia. Each group consisting of young leaders and Desa Putra SOS children tested various water sites for pollution according to instructed experiments and data collected from test kits. The young leaders then recorded the results and explained their findings to the Desa Putra SOS children. After a brainstorming session, each group presented their water pollution findings via creative skits such as dance and hand puppetry. The young leaders also took the initiative to donate their dinner allowance to the Desa Putra SOS Children’s Village.

Editor’s Note:

The Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative is a community relations programme developed and launched by Hitachi in Asia in 1996. The program aims to identify and groom potential Asian leaders by bringing them together to discuss regional issues and establish contacts with prominent regional opinion leaders from the private, public and academic sectors. The initiative offers student participants a unique platform to broaden their outlook on regional and global issues while promoting Asian values and cross-cultural understanding.

For information on past HYLI’s, please visit: http://www.hitachi.com/society/global/hyli/index.html

About Hitachi Asia Ltd.

Hitachi Asia Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. and established in Singapore in 1989, has offices across seven Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, Hitachi Asia’s business includes information systems, power and industrial systems, R&D, international procurement and Centre of Excellence. For more information on Hitachi Asia, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.sg.