Emerging Leaders Program

Given their stake in the region's future and the importance of creating a network among its leaders, NEAEF is committed to encouraging the education, training, and input of promising young researchers and policymakers of Northeast Asia and Asia-Pacific. Since 2006 NEAEF has awarded fellowships to advanced students and young professionals from Northeast Asia and the U.S. to participate in the NEAEF Emerging Leaders Training and Research Program.

The purpose of the NEAEF Emerging Leaders Program is to:

• Enhance knowledge of the social, economic, and political institutions of the individual countries of Northeast Asia and North America
• Encourage young leaders to consider a wide range of perspectives on regional and multilateral economic cooperation
• Prepare them to work collaboratively and internationally
• Provide them with practical education in policymaking through opportunities for direct dialogue with policymakers and other experts
• Promote a better understanding among young leaders of each other, their countries and cultures
• Foster a sense of community

Past YLPs have been held in:

• 2018, Sendai, Japan
• 2017, Hong Kong, China
• 2016, Changchun, China
• 2015, Tianjin and Beijing, China
• 2014, Busan and Seoul, South Korea
• 2013, Vladivostok, Russia
• 2012, Hainan, China
• 2011, Honolulu, Hawaii
• 2010, Ulaanbataar, Mongolia
• 2009, Busan, South Korea
• 2008, Tianjin, China
• 2007, Toyama, Japan
• 2006, Khabarovsk, Russia

The Northeast Asia Economic Forum (NEAEF), with support from the Freeman Foundation, has been conducting the Emerging Leaders Training and Research Program in Regional Cooperation and Development since 2006.