Message from the President

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My name is 福田煌大, from the 13th cohort of MIS, and I will be serving as President from this year.
Thanks to all of you, MIS, a specified nonprofit corporation, has now reached its 14th year since its founding.
The philosophy set out by our founders—“developing and producing next-generation leaders who can solve global challenges through collaboration with multilateral partners”—carried us through the period when our activities were restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it continues to be passed down to each of our student members today.
I believe this philosophy expresses our stance of facing what we can do as students, working with young people in Southeast Asia and other regions on an equal footing to address local challenges, and creating the future together with them. Rather than simply holding up ideals, I feel that MIS’s role is to keep searching for ways of acting that are actually achievable in the real world.
Guided by this philosophy, MIS has carried out a wide range of activities connecting Japan and the countries of Southeast Asia across generations. During the pandemic, travel became difficult and we had to scale down our activities significantly for a time, but with the support of our senior members and everyone involved, we have expanded our activities once again, and today several teams are working on projects in their respective regions.
Last year, each team made great progress.
The Thailand–Myanmar Border Team valued two-way relationships with local people and carried out a two-day project jointly with them on an equal footing. The team also achieved results that strengthened its foundation, such as a clothing donation made possible by the cooperation of companies and the award of a grant.
The Vietnam Team, aiming to solve waste problems, carried out a wide range of activities, including discussions with local students, the announcement of a joint declaration at the Japan-Vietnam Festival, and environmental workshops for high school and university students.
The Youth Summit Team held the 2nd Youth Summit, and also held a new event for high school students in Japan, sending selected participants to international exchange programs.
The Philippines Team, now in its second year, learned about the local waste management process during its spring 2026 trip and worked to build relationships with new partners.
In addition, MIS’s field of activity continues to expand, with the establishment of the new Cambodia Team.
This year, I would like to further develop the activities each team has built up so far, while strengthening the connections across MIS as a whole.
In this year’s new member recruitment, we received interest from many people; with about twice as many applicants as places, MIS held large-scale selection interviews for the first time. Together with our new members, we want to take on not only our existing activities but also the planning of new organization-wide events, increasing exchange across team boundaries to make the most of MIS’s strengths as a whole.
Through these activities, young people from Japan and Southeast Asia will learn from each other and grow together, and we will work toward realizing MIS’s philosophy of “developing and producing next-generation leaders who can collaborate multilaterally.”
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supports MIS’s activities. It is thanks to your warm support that we are able to continue and develop our activities.
We sincerely ask for your continued understanding of and cooperation with MIS’s philosophy.