Page 9 - APEC 20 Anniversary Book_v12_Neat

MESSAGE MESSAGE

It is indeed an honour to pen a few words on the occasion of APEC Voices of the Future’s 20th anniversary. This year marks the 20th anniversary of APEC Voices of the Future, a program that has enabled young people to
connect with one of the most important gatherings of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies.
Reaching two decades is a milestone that reflects the tenacity, commitment and dedication of the stakeholders of the
program. I have a personal attachment to this program because I launched it in 1998. Since then, APEC Voices of the APEC was formed with the goal to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Future program has not looked back, going from strength to strength, and here we are today, celebrating its 20th year The basis of APEC has always been unity through dialogue and cooperation, and through our initiatives, we turn policy
of existence. goals into concrete results and agreements into tangible benefits that APEC Member Economies can all reap. APEC
has developed to become an essential forum for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. Over the decades we
The 20 years that had gone by had been filled with numerous programs that the APEC Voices of the Future is now have witnessed tremendous growth and prosperity in the region. However, as we look into the future, we face new
internationally recognised as the official APEC Youth Program that provides young leaders from the Asia-Pacific region challenges ahead that cannot be solved by just us alone. There is a need to involve earnest members of other sectors
the opportunity and platform to engage world leaders on issues that are relevant to their economy. of our society, such as the youth, to contribute their ideas, innovation, and solutions for facing future problems.

Without doubt, youths have an important role in building their nation, be it in planning for the future or in sustaining APEC Voices of the Future is an important platform that allows young people from the 21 APEC Member Economies to
the contemporary well-being of countries. As I have always reminded my peers, we were also young once and if we engage government and business leaders on cross-cutting issues relevant to APEC. It is encouraging to see how many
were to reflect, we should realise how keen we were in wanting to have a role, a say in the development of our nations. of these APEC Voices delegates have benefitted from this youth leadership program and have stepped up to become
And we should also be able to reflect how frustrating it could be if our young voices were dismissed and trivialised youth ambassadors of APEC in their respective capacities.
just because we were young and inexperienced. But what the youths lack in experience, they make it up with drive,
determination, commitment and idealism, among others. All these values, traits and characteristics are the factors that I thank them for their vision, commitment and the assurance they bring that the Asia-Pacific’s future remains bright.
drive youths forward and enrich them with the experience necessary for later years.

On that note, I wish to congratulate the founding members of APEC Voices, the host economies and the working
committees for their efforts in the past two decades building a network of youth leaders that are passionate in working
together for the benefit of the region .

I am certain that the APEC Voices Program in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea will be a great success, a fruitful and
enriching journey for our youth delegates as experienced by their predecessors. Dr Alan Bollard
Executive Director, APEC Secretariat
Thank you.

Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad
Prime Minister, Malaysia

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