News

Alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Week held in Sydney Australia from 2-9 September 2007, the Voices of the Future Programme brought together over 100 delegates to provide a unique insight into APEC and how it addresses the challenges of the 21st century and contributes to the welfare and prosperity of the region.

Fifteen multi-country teams including Award delegates from Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore convened a number of working groups including a 'Youth News Crew' and research team responsible for interviewing the leaders and attending both the APEC and ABAC Summits. Their thoughts were broadcast around the world as they uploaded a multi-media programme nightly on YouTube. These broadcsts can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/voicesau2007.

"APEC gave me invaluable experiences, experiences that I never had as a young person. I saw myself propelled towards broader horizons, aiming for even more in life, " said PeiRu Ng, a Gold Award holder.

The six day programme was hosted by the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Asia Pacific and Australia, with Oz GREEN in collaboration with the Virtual Trade Mission International and Prepa TEC Mexico. Voices was first held in Malaysia in 1998 with the most recent held in Viet Nam in 2006.