Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) joining hands with the Perdana Fellow Alumni Association (PFAA) as a strategic partner to harness the youth’s potential and encourage active citizens in promoting change-makers whose leadership will catalyse the achievements of SDGs in the country. To tap into the potential of young individuals in Malaysia, Mala Dorasamy the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MITEC said “The association aligns with the direction for the centre to accomplish Youth 4 Global Goals (Youth4GG) to promote and support the change-makers of their leadership abilities that will act as a catalyst in driving the accomplishment of SDGs or also referred as the Global Goals and Agenda 2030”.

The PFAA is known to be a prestigious program established by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in 2013 to provide young Malaysians a first-hand experience in matters of national governance. The selected youth were amongst thousands of applicants who applied and “The cream of the crop” was placed under the purview of the Minister of various Ministries to assist in the highest form of governance. Upon completion of the fellowship, they become a member of the Perdana Fellows Alumni Association (PFAA), which continues the culture of fostering a close network between youth leaders and government, corporate, and NGO leaders.

The President of PFAA, Syed Mohamed Arif said “We are deeply honored to receive the support of MITEC, a prominent economic catalyst and renowned Gateway of Southeast Asia. Our vision is to elevate the association’s profile within ASEAN and beyond, thus forging a partnership with MITEC will undoubtedly expedite our ambitious mission”. With the aim of unearthing many talents from this association, MITEC, and the International Youth Centre (IYC) carry similar aspirations in building an empowered youth to contribute to the nation with their ideas, expertise, and manpower for the betterment of the next generation in the country. YBhg Dr. Hi Mohamed Maliki, Director of the International Youth Centre said “We believe MITEC’s initiative to support and partner with PFAA is based on shared responsibility to make society a better place and a good way to expand as well as include more holistic approaches in corporate social responsibility”.

This is not the first time, MITEC initiated an approach to touch on youth empowerment. Some of the well-known programs that MITEC has partnered with include the eUsahawan Young Heroes by MDEC, the Business Events (BE) forum, Elite Program for talent development, Michelin Guide Debut with Sunway & Taylors University to contribute to the development of youth in Malaysia as well as giving interns platforms in engineering, finance, business development, marketing, culinary and hospitality industry at the largest venue in Malaysia as part the of the graduate program.

Mala Dorasamy, CEO of MITEC also said “With partnerships, we have successfully introduced fresh and innovative approaches to attain the SDGs in a more accessible manner. In this context, the collaboration will effectively harness the potential of young people, empowering them to contribute significantly to our shared SDGs.”