MGIMO at Russia-ASEAN Youth Summit

MGIMO at Russia-ASEAN Youth Summit

27 November 2019

November 27th, the fifth Russia-ASEAN Youth summit started its work in Manila. The event was organized with the support of the National Youth Council and brought together students and young professionals from the ten ASEAN countries and Russia.

The members of the Russian delegation were selected by MGIMO’s ASEAN centre based on the results of an essay contest on the «ASEAN-Russia Strategic Partnership» and among those representing Russia were students from MGIMO, Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, the Far Eastern Federal University, the Higher School of Economics and the Crimean Federal University.

The opening ceremony of the forum was kicked off by ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Michael Tene, who spoke about his recent visit to Moscow during the Russia—ASEAN Education forum, which was organized by the ASEAN Centre.

The Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Roman Kamaev and the Head of the National Commission for Youth Affairs of the Philippines Ryan Enriquez exchanges views on the different opportunities to expand cooperation in the sphere of youth policy between ASEAN countries and Russia and discussed international projects which could be mutually beneficial. Deputy Foreign Minister Ernesto Abella conveyed a warm welcome to all participants of the summit on behalf of the President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, a honorary doctor of MGIMO, emphasized the relevance of such forums which help improve education, environmental protection and cooperation between civil societies, all the while strengthening security in the region.

The Ambassador of Russia to the Philippines Igor Khovaev and the Deputy Director of the Department of Asia-Pacific Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry Andrey Lyamin also attended the opening ceremony.

On the first day of the summit, three thematic sessions on the development of youth, cultural and educational exchanges between Russia and ASEAN countries were organized. Among the Russian speakers at the conference were T. Seliverstova (from Rosmolodezh), E. Koldunova (from MGIMO University), D. Sharova (from Rossotrudnichestvo). Russian participants actively participated in the debates and discussions.

At the summit, all participating countries created exhibitions presenting their culture, traditions and national products. The Russian stand was one of the brightest.

The summit will operate for three days and at the end, based on the results of the discussions, the participants will adopt a final Declaration presenting how the discussed initiatives could be implemented.

Youth summits have been held since 2013, when MGIMO hosted the first gathering at the initiative of the ASEAN Centre. The second forum took place in October 2014 at the International Youth Centre in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the third in October 2015 in Vladivostok at the Far Eastern Federal University. The latest event was held in October 2016 in Siem Reap (Cambodia).

— See the MGIMO web-site for russian version