Roundup: Tech-empowered youth will drive ASEAN dream of connectivity, inclusion: experts

The ASEAN vision of a more closely connected community that is focused on providing better lives for its people can be achieved through strong leadership in the region and effective public-private cooperation, experts agreed at the closing session of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN here on Friday.

"The vision for ASEAN countries in the next decades is to have a really integrated economy to achieve the most economic gains for their people," said Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

"The fundamental guarantee is the commitment of leaders to build such an integrated economy. I am struck by the consensus of the leaders on this dream. I hope it will be carried forward by the younger generations," he said.

A key part of the ASEAN dream must be inclusive connectivity, said Wolfgang Jamann, secretary-general and chief executive officer of Care International in Switzerland.

"The business of business is beyond business. But we must have a wider ambition," he said. "Inclusion must not stop at connecting rural areas, the underserved or the underbanked. We must also reach out to those who are being marginalized, including women and girls, who make up half the population."

John Rice, Hong Kong-based vice-chairman of General Electric, added: "Sustainable inclusive growth is much more than an idea; it is an imperative."

This means focusing on education and skills development, Rice said.

"We have to create jobs for the 21st century, for a digital world, a world that may not recognize the benefits of globalization or global trade. But no region has benefited more from them than ASEAN," said Tevin Vongvanich, chief executive officer of PTT Public Company Limited in Thailand.

"Traditional education would need to be reviewed and revised. Single-skill education would have to be changed to multiple skills," he said.

Fifty years since its founding, ASEAN should tap the energy and innovation of its tech-empowered young people, said Tan Hooi Ling, co-founder of the technology company Grab in Singapore.

"We equally hold the future of ASEAN in our hands and should actively shape it," she said, expressing confidence that ASEAN could soon become "the leader and not the follower" in the global economy.

More than 700 business, government and civil society leaders from 40 countries and regions participated in the 26th World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Phnom Penh from May 10 to May 12. Endit