DE

#YOUNGLEADERSPROGRAM
Young leaders master the art of cooperation

fylp
© Zoom Picture by FNFSEEA

FNF Young Leaders programme, Finding Your Way in the Labour Market, came to an end on September 12 2021. 50 students chosen to participate in the programme said farewell to the programme on zoom and in their group chats. However, each group left memories of having fun, working together under different time zones and learning about different labour markets from experts and their peers.

Students feel worth attending the programme and they hail to spread the news about the future series of Young Leaders Programme to their colleagues. One student said, “I would definitely recommend this programme, if there is any in the future, to my colleagues because it is helpful to broaden their perspectives.”

“Meeting new people across the continent is a key for my recommendation about this programme to the others,” another student stated.  

140 applications were received and 50 were chosen to participate in this regional programme hosted by the alumni of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. Amidst the pandemic, FNF has never stopped working to create opportunities for people to meet up and build their network. This time, with the leadership from two alumni, Vinh Cao and Audrie Frais, FNF Young Leaders series was created to guide young leaders in the region for their future job prospects. 16-19 age group from Southeast and East Asia was invited to join the programme made up of international economists from Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Germany.

Altogether 7 economists met on September 2nd 2021 to prepare for the first series of FNF Young Leaders Programme, Finding Your Way in the Labour Market. Andreas Stoffers from Germany, Fumitaka Furuoka and Iwao Kato from Japan, Beatrice Lim and Khairul Hanim Pazim from Malaysia, Cao Thi Hong Vinh and Huy Q. Nguyen from Vietnam discussed the programme details and planned activities in this preparatory meeting.

Topics were interesting and quite instrumental in career choices. The workshop started on September 4-5 weekends. On the first day, Dr. Lim and Dr. Hanim talked about labour market: supply and demand as well as skilled vs. unskilled labour. On the second day, Dr. Vinh Cao discussed factors influential in deciding which career path to choose: intrinsic, extrinsic and interpersonal factors. The session was quite interactive with questions and comments from the students. These two days were designed to help the students to understand about different types of labour and factors influential for their future careers.

“One of the reasons I joined this programme is because they are introducing labour markets,” one student voiced.

On September 11-12 2021, regional labour markets and examples from Germany were introduced so that the youth could oversee their potential not only in their home countries but also abroad. On the last day, the youth, in groups, presented about their preferred labour markets in Southeast and East Asia.

“This is a great opportunity for teenagers like me to join to learn more about labour markets and what’s actually going on especially at this pandemic time,” one of the top performing students stated.

FYLP Group Picture
© zoom picture © FNF Southeast and East Asia

5 groups were formed with 10 members each. The students, over the two weeks, coordinated and worked together to finish their workshop assignments and the presentations. Each student had an opportunity to meet their peers from different countries and they learned to work together, adjusting their time zones, to finalize their presentations and assignments. Group chats were very interactive and each group produced interesting video and powerpoint presentations at the end when talking about labour markets in South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.

FNF Young Leaders programme selected the best presentation award and seven best preforming students at the end of the workshop. These students would be invited to future FNF activities to further expand their network.

Meanwhile, all those participated in the programme have expanded their network, made new friends and connected to international experts and FNF. Above all, they improved their art work of cooperation and working together in a multicultural environment to showcase their skills and leadership. In the end, that’s the best of all counts for young leaders joining the programme.

FNF Regional Office takes notice of the success of this programme; thereby, planning to organize subsequent series for young leaders to further advance their skills in the region next year. Therefore, stay tuned!

 

fylp 2
© Zoom Picture@FNFSEEA