Japan-ASEAN Student Conference Committee

Outline

MIS is continuously working to create a forum where students from Asia can come together to discuss and take action on social issues. As part of this effort, the ASEAN-Japan Student Conference Executive Committee was formed to plan and execute the ASEAN-Japan Student Conference. With the understanding of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others, this team, together with JICE, is planning and executing the ASEAN-Japan Student Conference under the theme of “What the Youth of Asian Countries Can Do to Achieve a Sustainable World.

The ASEAN-Japan Student Conference welcomes mainly undergraduate and graduate students from Timor-Leste, Japan, and ASEAN countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. The conference will consist of an “Orientation” and a “Main Session”. After the conference, we will move on to the “Action Plan Implementation” phase. The “Orientation” will provide conference participants with 1. keynote speeches by prominent figures from ASEAN and Japan, 2. icebreakers among participants, and 3. a deeper understanding of each topic to be covered in the main conference and sharing of issues in each country. During the Main Session, participants will be divided into five divisions. In each division, a theme related to the social dynamics of the post-pandemic period will be selected, and lectures on the theme will be given to deepen the knowledge and discussion among the students. In the workshop for each sectional group, participants will identify a common ASEAN issue related to the theme and devise a solution. In devising solutions, we will utilize the problem-solving framework that MIS uses in its regular activities. Each division will present its solutions as an action plan at the final presentation.

In the “Action Plan Implementation” phase, participants aim to actually implement the ideas presented at the final presentation. In parallel with the ASEAN-Japan Student Conference, MIS has been implementing projects in Southeast Asia. Utilizing the knowledge and networks gained through this process, MIS aims to ensure that the action plans from the conference are not merely left at the discussion stage, but are implemented in the form of projects.