A2ELP ASEAN Smart Cities Success

The Australia ASEAN Emerging Leaders Program (A2ELP) – an 8-day intensive program was recently held throughout Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia.  This year’s A2ELP had the theme of “Smart Cities”, which explored important issues including green infrastructure, water governance, renewable energy, innovative technologies and data analytics.

The program kicked off from 10-12 August in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by events in Singapore on 13-14 August, before finishing on 15-17 August in Jakarta.

While the A2ELP group were in Jakarta, the ASEAN Mission hosted a roundtable meeting with ASEAN Ambassador, Jane Duke, to discuss ASEAN-Australia relations and cooperation to promote smart cities. The group also met with H.E. Kung Phoak Deputy Secretary General for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and toured the new ASEAN Secretariat building, recently opened by Indonesian President Widodo.

Ambassador Duke also hosted the group for a networking reception with other A2ELP alumni, smart cities stakeholders and ASEAN contacts at her residence.

The A2ELP leadership program ran for 3 months, made up of 15 social entrepreneurs from ASEAN and Australia (5 Australians and an entrepreneur from each of the 10 ASEAN countries). The extensive program featured dialogue, workshops, networking events, field visits, cultural activities, and implementation support.