Ministry may establish special fund for S’wak youth participation in global conferences, says Abd Karim

KUCHING (Oct 16): The Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development Ministry may look into providing a special fund to boost local youth’s participation in international conferences, said minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He also shared the ministry’s plan to set up an initial grant of up to RM2 million for this purpose when met after participating in a policy dialogue session at the 2nd International Conference on Tropical Sciences (TropSc 2024) here today.

“I would love to probe into this. Because I see if we have good conferences, it would be good to have up-and-coming aspiring leaders to attend.

“If finance is the one that hinders them (the youths) from attending, it would be such a waste. And that is where we (the ministry) should come in.

“I will discuss this with my permanent secretary Morshidi Fedrick and those in the ministry, so that, at least, we can provide the youths certain funds,” he told reporters when met.

Such an initiative, he added, was to create a platform where the youths could engage in meaningful policy discussions and play their roles as change-makers.

“Our young people are the backbone of our future. By creating platforms where they can engage in meaningful policy discussions and integrate sustainability into our education system, we empower them to be tomorrow’s change-makers.

“We must guide and support them and ensure they have the resources to lead the charge for a more sustainable and equitable future,” he said.

TropSc 2024 has drawn hundreds of participants from 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Timor-Leste.

Among the key issues highlighted in the two-day conference are climate change, biodiversity decline, deforestation, and habitat loss.

The discussions are carried out in four tracks namely Tropical Agriculture; Tropical Architecture and Engineering; Tropical Medicine; and Tropical Natural Resources.

In addition to the four main tracks, there will be three special themes covering Climate Change in the Tropics, Open Science in Tropical Biodiversity, and Protection of Indigenous and Local Knowledge in the Tropics.