APEC Junior Conference kicks off

The 2010 APEC Junior Conference in Hiroshima will open on February 20 at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in conjunction with the APEC meeting of senior officials. Slated to take part in the junior conference are 37 young people from 19 economies in the region. They will discuss issues facing the Asia-Pacific region, such as the environment, education, intercultural communication/understanding and poverty, and bring their discussions to a head by issuing a declaration designed to help build a more peaceful future.

The impetus for the gathering was a proposal for a youth conference made by Peace Seeds junior writers at the G8 Speakers' Summit in September 2008. We are very pleased that this proposal has been realized and we hope "seeds of peace" can sprout all over the world.

Through the participants' application essays and their responses to our questionnaire, we have come to know something of their thoughts and cultural backgrounds. We also learned that some of them enjoy Japanese animation and music, like us. We hope our readers will pay a visit to the conference, too, and share their friendship with the participants.

Note: The content found in the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper and on the Peace Seeds website is based on the participants' application essays and their responses to our questionnaire.

1. Wu Tong (China) 2. Zhao Yuhang (China) 3. Tatiana Shashkina (Russia) 4. Kirill Grebenkin (Russia) 5. Tara Ruel (Canada) 6. Julie Sato (Mexico) 7. Ellie Sato (Mexico) 8. Jessica Christine Pierret (Chile)

To read the personal thoughts of each participant, please click on their photos.

9. Faye Rentoule (Australia) 10. Kogulan Sabaratnam (Australia) 11. Minh Le (Vietnam) 12. Ahmad Faiz Haji Zailani (Burnei Darussalam) 13. Pornpipat Kasemsap (Thailand) 14. Muhammad Hazim Mohamad (Malaysia) 15. Sharandeep Jasdeep Singh (Malaysia)

Other participants Haji Izz Khairee Haji Mohd Ya'akub (Burnei Darussalam) / Samareh Moghbel (Canada) / Neantro Saavedra Carneiro (Chile) / Addina Hadi (Indonesia) / Saras Salim (Indonesia) / Yang Young hyo (Korea) / Kang Dong woo (Korea) / Colin Lang Timothy Ho-Leong (Papua New Guinea) / Akihiro Chinen (Peru) / Ardelette Roa (the Philippines) / Mary Kimberly Barcelona (the Philippines) / Michelle Sim (Singapore) / Caleb Castro (Singapore) / Lin Jo-Hsuan (Chinese Taipei) / Chu Farn (Chinese Taipei) / Chatruethai Kanchanasobhana (Thailand) / Timothy Reid (the United States) / Casey Yamazaki Heineman (the United States)

Risa Kushioka Kazuma Kobatake

Richi Miyake Moeko Fujii