n March 22-27, 2010, three APU international students participated in the Iuventum G4 Economic Talk symposium in Tokyo. APU Students Arisyi Fariza Raz (APM4, Indonesia), Tamarind Puri Khiranti Indra (APM4, Indonesia) and Iqra Anugrah (APS3, Indonesia) participated in the 6 day program and discussed a range of global issues and from the youth perspective with other students from universities in the G4 nations of China, Japan, the USA and Germany.

Dealing with various economic-related topics, such as globalization, regionalism and health issues, the APU students showed their skills in the panel discussion sessions, working alongside other participants from prestigious universities around Japan and abroad such as Tokyo University and Waseda University.

During the conference, the participants also had the opportunity to hear from representatives of the automobile industry including Toyota and Volkswagen who spoke of their efforts to reduce Co2 emissions and the introduction of environmentally friendly technology in response to global warming. At the end of the conference, a joint communiqué was presented by the participants and included policy recommendations for predicted challenges in the year 2020.

Looking back on the talks, Iqra Anugrah (APS3, Indonesia) commented, “The conference was so exciting and I learnt many new things. I particularly enjoyed discussing and exchanging ideas on recent global economic issues with so many students from many of the outstanding universities in Japan.”

Supporters of this event include the G8 Youth Summit Japan, the German-Japanese Youth Society and the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies.