Projects

FY2010

Asian Renaissance: Capacity Building for Future Leaders in Southeast Asia

Project contents
Early members of the ASEAN have achieved unparalleled growth and developed highly stable societies as a result of sound national leadership. However, for these ASEAN states to enjoy further success and development, they need to raise the quality of political, economic, and social systems and encourage flexibility in regard to changes in the surrounding environment, and in particular, they must nurture and train future leaders capable of leading the countries into a new age. The aim of this project is to nurture future leaders in South East Asian countries, in cooperation with politicians currently in office and intellectuals from ASEAN, Japan, the US and Europe. Specifically, the project targets ASEAN countries in which parliamentary democracies have already taken root, selects talented young leaders, and provides them with opportunities to study at workshops and similar events.
Implementation plan
In the final year of the 5-year project, the following activities will be carried out.

  • Liaison Meeting (Phnom Penh):
    Development of training programs and selection of lecturers will be carried out by Dr. Anwar Ibrahim, and M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra and his team. Twenty-five participants will be selected through open recruitment and by recommendation, taking into consideration work experience, English competency and age. This year, the following numbers of participants will be selected for each country involved: Malaysia (7), Cambodia (7), Thailand (4), Philippines (4), Indonesia (3).
  • Workshop:
    • Following the selection of participants, the required reading will be specified. This year, the required reading is Asian Renaissance and the Power of Ideas (Dr. Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia) and Cosmopolitanism (Dr. Kwame Appiah. Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia).
    • Workshops (Phnom Penh) 
      Discussions will be held at workshops held twice a day for seven days. The topics for discussion will be: a) Asian Renaissance and the Power of Ideas (Dr. Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia), b) The Asian Ideas and Values (K. Jaafar/Executive Director of Institut Kajian Dasar), c) Engaging the Asean Superstate (Hun Sen/Prime Minister of Cambodia), d) Unity in Diversity (Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar/former Presidential Candidate of Indonesia), e) Forging Consensus: Building Bridges (Dato' Sallehuddin Hashim/former Secretary General of the People's Justice Party in Malaysia)
    In the interests of maintaining the network of past project participants, a Web site will be created as one of the follow-up activities.
Project Results
The goal of this project is to help foster the next generation of ASEAN leaders by providing opportunities to learn foundational skills to promising young leaders in ASEAN countries where parliamentary government is taking hold. Government leaders and prominent figures in ASEAN countries provide invaluable assistance.

Over the course of five years, 123 participants from ASEAN countries have been given the opportunity to acquire sophisticated skills and knowledge as well as a shared awareness of important global issues.

Implementing Agency Institute for Policy Research (Malaysia) Year Implementation year(5/5)
Project Type Self OperatedGrantCommissionedOther Year project budget implementation 9,916,192yen