A group of 75 young leaders from 10 ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste gathered in Hanoi on Tuesday morning to join a Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Regional Workshop featuring discussions on innovation in the higher education system.

The workshop is held by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi in partnership with National Economics University (NEU) in Hanoi.

The 75 participants, who were shortlisted out of 900 applicants from 10 ASEAN nations and Timor-Leste, are lecturers, administrators, policymakers, advocates, and young professionals from higher education institutions.

During the four-day event, these young leaders are scheduled to take part in various activities such as plenary discussions, teamwork activities, training, and field trips.

To launch an initiative to establish collaboration among higher education institutions in the region, YSEALI Seeds for the Future, a small grants competition for young leaders in Southeast Asia, will offer funding to three most excellent projects presented at the workshop.

Each project will be awarded US$3,000.

Addressing the event’s opening ceremony, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper stressed the U.S. government's commitment to supporting ASEAN nations and Timor-Leste in order to promote educational initiatives in the region.

“Education is a top priority for the U.S. government and countries in the region as this sector offers training to equip future young leaders with knowledge,” Knapper said.

The U.S. diplomat told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on the sidelines of the event that he hoped the young participants would promote educational initiatives in their countries and communities.

In addition, the application of technology to higher education is among the most discussed topics at the workshop.

The U.S. ambassador underlined the importance of technology application in education and cited virtual learning as an example, adding that the technology application in the field also poses certain challenges.

Hence, Knapper said this was a hot topic that this year’s YSEALI Regional Workshop should take into account.

Kosoma Kim, a 27-year-old start-up founder in education in Cambodia, said she was happy to join the 2023 YSEALI workshop in Vietnam.

“I met many people sharing the same mindset with me in education. I want to exchange interesting ideas with them in the next days,” Kim told Tuoi Tre.

Echoing the same view as Kim, SzeYing Teo, a 32-year-old participant from Singapore, said she would like to connect more deeply with other friends in ASEAN through education and culture.

Launched in 2013, YSEALI is a U.S. diplomatic initiative to strengthen leadership development and networking in Southeast Asia.

It seeks to build the leadership capabilities of youth in the region.

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