Nine Countries to Collaborate in Indonesia Youth Summit

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Youth and Sports Erick Thohir said the Indonesia Youth Summit (IYS) youth development programme will collaborate with nine countries so that Indonesia’s younger generation can learn best practices for advancing youth development.

“There are the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and others,” Erick told journalists after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government on the organisation of the Wirasena Youth Camp and the Indonesia Sport Summit 2026 in Jakarta on Monday.

IYS is a leadership development programme that brings together young people from various regions to discuss, collaborate, and design solutions to social, economic, educational, environmental, and national development issues.

The programme, whose primary aim is to enhance the leadership capacity of the younger generation, is participated in by university students, school pupils, activists, young entrepreneurs, and young professionals.

He explained that cooperation with other countries whose youth development is already excellent is being carried out so that Indonesia can make comparisons, particularly learning best practices that can be applied in advancing national youth development.

“God willing, I have also contacted the UN (United Nations); later we will also request global benchmarking on our youth affairs, how our position is in order to renew, to invest, for the future of our youth,” Erick said.

The Minister of Youth and Sports also emphasised that the programme is very important in paving the way for the younger generation as future leaders of the nation.

He said that if the younger generation is not prepared, they will lose out in competition with other nations, which could become a stigma that would also diminish Indonesia’s competitiveness as a nation.