Singapore (April 7, 2008)—The AIESEC Symposium, sponsored by Unilever and PricewaterhouseCoopers, was held at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore on April 4, 2008. The one-day event centered on the theme of Youth Talent: Leadership and Innovation in Asia Pacific.

Business and AIESEC youth leaders from Asia Pacific were brought together through this Symposium. Corporations such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Merrill Lynch, Singapore Exchange were amongst the 92 attendees at the occasion.

  Ms. Gathoni Wang’ombe, SEAA Leadership Development Director of Unilever, said: “The Symposium was engaging. It was a door that opened up exchange of opinions between corporates and youth. Students want to be heard and their views need to be taken seriously. They have provided insight that there is a reason behind job-hopping: nowadays, people want to move to other companies to seek personal development.”  

During the focus group sessions, corporate leaders gained insight into how youth from various parts of the Asia Pacific perceive their career, ambitions and expectations. Topics covered include the methods of attracting youth during information sessions to final year students in universities. One suggestion included having company representatives at information talks share their personal work experiences; thereby outlining the company’s values and cultures for the youth.

With Asia Pacific becoming one of the fastest growing regions, companies are seeking to attract and retain talent from this part of the world. Increasingly, companies are finding it difficult to compete for skilled talent – people who have the technical skills coupled with soft skills like leadership and communication and the ability to work with diversity. High turnover rates in corporations show that there is strong competition for talent and many youths in Asia typically spend two to three years in a company.

AIESEC previously held successful Symposiums in the Netherlands in 2006 and Egypt in 2007. Singapore was selected as the venue this year.

About AIESEC
AIESEC is the international student platform for young people to discover and develop their potential.  Present in over 100 countries and encompassing over 28,000 members, AIESEC is one of the world’s largest student organizations. AIESEC provides the platform for leadership development for young people by offering over 6500 leadership opportunities each year, in addition to over 4400 international internship opportunities for its members.  AIESEC is an organization that activates leaders, creating a network of change agents that have a positive impact on society. AIESEC in Singapore consists of undergraduate members from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Management University.

For more information, please contact:

Cheryl Chen
National Branding and Communications Coordinator
AIESEC in Singapore

Email: cheryl.chen@aiesec.net
Phone: +65 9654 9456
Web: www.aiesec.org/singapore