IXTEEN Bruneian youth who are alumni of the Young Southeast Asia Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) will have a chance to meet US President Barack Obama this Friday during a “town hall” dialogue in Kuala Lumpur.
Obama will be in Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN summit this weekend and will take time out to meet and answer questions from 500 youth representing the 10 ASEAN countries.
“President Obama has made it a priority of his foreign policy to increase our engagement with Southeast Asia, particularly young people,” said Ben Rhodes, who serves as the White House deputy national security adviser and assistant to the president. “Our belief is that these are the future leaders of industry, civil society, and governance.”
The YSEALI alumni will convene in Malaysia on Thursday, to kick off a four-day event.
The 16 representatives from Brunei are actively involved in various youth movements across the country, representing NGOs such as the Brunei Darussalam Aids Council, Pusat Ehsan, Green Brunei and the Society for Community Outreach and Training (SCOT).
“The reason that we launched YSEALI is because we see a very large youth population across ASEAN countries,” Rhodes said in a telephone press briefing with ASEAN journalists on Monday.
Source: The Brunei Times