The 7th ASEAN Foundation Model ASEAN Meeting 2022 invites 94 student delegates from across ASEAN to grow appreciation for ASEAN diplomacy and build their competencies through immersive, virtual-based role-playing and meeting simulations.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Sept. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The ASEAN Foundation in collaboration with Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, U.S. Embassy, and AmCam Exchange organised today the opening ceremony of the 7th ASEAN Foundation Model ASEAN Meeting (AFMAM) 2022 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The programme ran virtually from 16 to 18 September and 24 to 25 September, involving 94 student delegates from across ASEAN.
As in the previous outings, the overarching focus of the 7th AFMAM 2022 revolves around the theme of Cambodia's ASEAN Chairmanship, which is ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together, highlighting ASEAN's spirit of collectivism as a single community and the shared commitment in addressing and overcoming difficulties faced by our region. Some of the topics that raised in this year's AFMAM are ASEAN Centrality, Strengthening Competitiveness and Regional Integration, and Sustainable Development.
"As an important driving force for the region's economic growth, social progress, and cultural development, youth's role nowadays is becoming even more detrimental, especially in accelerating ASEAN's recovery process from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years. The 7th AFMAM 2022 strives to gathers dynamic, creative, and innovative youth like the 94 student delegates here to contribute insights and ideas under the spirit of cooperation, good faith, solidarity, and harmony," said Dr. Yang Mee Eng, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation.
First introduced in 2015, AFMAM aims to equip students with knowledge about how ASEAN as an inter-governmental system works as well as ASEAN's latest affairs and challenges. To achieve this, the programme employs not only carefully crafted role-playing and meeting simulation methods, but also utilises a combination of expert-led coaching sessions and insightful talk show to enrich delegates' knowledge about ASEAN. In the last five years, the programme has received over 8,000 applications, directly empowering more than 700 undergraduate students and faculty members.
The Opening Ceremony of 7th AFMAM 2022 was also marked with a series of speeches delivered by the representatives of Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, U.S. Embassy, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Kingdom of Cambodia.
The event was then proceeded by a roundtable discussion with a theme of "Strengthening Human Security and Youths as a Driving Force for Change after COVID-19," presenting speakers line-up that consist of H.E. Dr. Kol Pheng, Founding Father and President of Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, Ms. Bic Leu, First Secretary and ASEAN Coordinator, U.S. Embassy, Cambodia, and H.E. Dr. Cheunboran Chanborey, Director General of the Information, Research and Analysis Group, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Kingdom of Cambodia.
About ASEAN Foundation
Three decades after ASEAN was established, ASEAN leaders recognised that: there remained inadequate shared prosperity, ASEAN awareness and contact among people of ASEAN. It was of this concern that ASEAN leaders established ASEAN Foundation during ASEAN's 30th Anniversary Commemorative Summit in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on 15 December 1997. ASEAN Foundation is an organisation from and for the people of ASEAN. The Foundation exists because of one vision: to build a cohesive and prosperous ASEAN Community. As an ASEAN's body, the Foundation is tasked to support ASEAN mainly in promoting awareness, identity, interaction and development of the people of ASEAN. For more info about the ASEAN Foundation, visit: www.aseanfoundation.org.
