Da Nang (VNA) – Delegates to the APEC Voices of the Future (VOF)spoke highly of the results of the forum, which was held from November 6-10 onthe sidelines of the APEC 2017 Economic Leaders’ Week.

“I think after five days in Vietnam, the result is veryencouraging. The young people interacted with the leaders and some of them metthe heads of governments and voiced their concerns,” said James Soh, Co-Chairof the APEC Voices Leadership Council.

They told the governments to consult and work with them because they want tomake Asia Pacific a dynamic region, he said, adding that Vietnam provides avery good platform for them to interact with the governments of APECeconomies. 

According to James Soh, the delegates are impressed with not only the forum butalso the visit to beautiful Hoi An ancient town, the peace village and muralvillage in the central province of Quang Nam that some of the young people havenever seen if they don’t participate in the APEC Voices of the Future. 

“Now they have better understanding of Vietnam and I told them after all thehardwork, they should try to spend a few days in Vietnam and enjoy the beautyof country,” he said.

Le Thi Huong, a delegate from Vietnam, said this VOF was a successful event. Itoffered her opportunities to meet with and voice their wishes to the leaders of21 APEC economies.

At the forum, the Vietnamese delegation voiced the contributions of Vietnameseyouth and suggested each member economy help its young people better understandingof APEC, she said.

Each economy should have an online forum where youngsters can send theirquestions and aspirations to, she added.

VOF is an opportunity for all young people in not only Vietnam but also otherAPEC members to sit together to talk about the future of their economies and thewhole APEC, according to Huong.

Catalina Villanueva Matar from Mexico said youths are really important asthey are the future of economies.

The biggest interest of young people is to have their voiced heard, she said, addingthat forums like VOF should have seminars to discuss what involve the youth andthe active participation of not only local youth but global youth, because theyare future leaders.

Meanwhile, Robert Lachlan Deppeler, an Australian delegate, said he was wasmost impressed with the first topic, Vision beyond 2020.

“I think a lot of the youth have excellent ideas and I hope all ideas will betaken into account and be implemented,” he noted.

He also emphasised the importance of the youth declaration, which can bemeasured only when it is implemented by the leaders.

“We are trying to talk to, try to make our voices heard and I think that it isfundamentally important that the leaders take note. I do believe that all of uscan make the voices heard. It’s remarkable to hear that so many people havesimilar ideas and I think it is really promising to the future,” he said.-VNA