KUALA LUMPUR, 6 March 2019  – Forty-two undergraduate students from Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam joined the two-week ASEAN in Today’s World programme (AsTW) 2019 in Kuala Lumpur to better understand ASEAN affairs.

AsTW is an international study programme that aims to promote a better understanding on ASEAN and East Asia affairs through courses relating to ASEAN studies, Asian languages and culture.  For the past two years, the programme has been hosted by the University of Malaya of Malaysia in collaboration with Kyushu University of Japan.

“Readiness for this Industry 4.0 world is high on ASEAN’s priorities. Preparing the youth of ASEAN to be resilient, responsive, and socially responsible is essential to seize the opportunities and address the challenges of this new era,” ASEAN Secretariat Director of Human Development Rodora T. Babaran said in her opening remarks. “It is also important that in today’s world of constant change, the young people of ASEAN must be equipped with 21^st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation and flexibility,” she added.

Launched in 2009, the programme has been hosted by a consortium of universities from ASEAN Member States and Japan including Viet Nam National University of Hanoi (Viet Nam), Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines), Mahidol University (Thailand), University of Malaya (Malaysia) as well as Kyushu University and Fukuoka Women’s University. AsTW forms part of the ASEAN Work Plan on Education 2016-2020, and contributes to advancing ASEAN studies programme and courses at higher education level through cross-border mobility.

For more information on the programme, please check the AsTW website http://www.isc.kyushu-u.ac.jp/astw/.

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