The forum culminated in the release of the 2025 Bangkok Youth Sustainability Declaration, presented with great significance at the UN’s Asia-Pacific headquarters. This moment marked a powerful surge in youth-driven engagement in global policy agendas.

One of the forum’s key invited speakers—brought together through the collaboration of cross-border civil society organisations—was Jack Huang, Consultant to the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) and the forum’s Youth Impact Chair. In an exclusive interview with《The Icons》Bangkok team, he shared:“I’m grateful to the organisers for inviting me to serve as the Youth Impact Chair of this international forum. From the perspective of a volunteer, our role isn’t just to inspire—it’s to help youth leaders turn their ideals into real, community-based solutions.”

Jack Huang: Supporting the Scale of the Declaration through Regional Action with a Global Vision

This forum—jointly organised by the Chinese Youth Growth Foundation, the STUF United Fund Asia Pacific Center, and Southeast Bangkok University—was far more than a symbolic gathering. From early-stage policy simulations and local field research to transnational design workshops, every element was rooted in the insights and creativity of the youth leaders themselves. The process culminated in a substantial United Nations advocacy document: the 2025 Bangkok Sustainability Book.

“The declaration and the sustainability book are not just slogans—they represent more than four months of preparation and intercontinental collaboration,” said Jack Huang in an interview. “This marks the first time that youth from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas have co-created an SDGs action blueprint that is both locally grounded and globally impactful.” He stressed that the real value of this achievement lies in its ability to integrate policy design, community needs, and sustainable practice—an intersection too often overlooked in global advocacy work.

Youth Leaders Are Not Supporting Roles — They Are the Backbone of the Future

In addition to his role as a consultant to the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT), Jack Huang also serves as Programme Director at the UNITAR Global SDGs Leadership Centre. He has long championed multilateral youth training, sustainable leadership, and diplomatic capacity building. He is also an ESG strategy advisor to several green energy and infrastructure enterprises across Southeast Asia, actively bridging industry, community, and public governance while linking environmental finance with grassroots innovation.

“Talking about policy or theory alone is never enough,” he told《The Icons》Bangkok team. “We need to help young people understand how global frameworks are applied in community innovation, investment strategies, and cross-sector collaboration. The design of this forum was meant to show them that they are not observers of the future—they are participants and drivers of change in the present.”

International Forums and Advocacy Should Not Remain Only on Paper

This forum broke away from the conventional format of international conferences that often remain on paper. Instead of passively listening to speeches, participants engaged directly with local communities—conducting interviews, assessing needs, and forming multinational teams to co-design solution prototypes. Each step, from data consolidation to community dialogue and final presentations, was guided through structured training and mentorship.

One of the most acclaimed highlights, according to Jack Huang, was the SDGs Strategic Simulation Workshop led by Dr. Martin Venzky-Stalling, Chair of the Sustainability Development Committee of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT). This immersive exercise gave youth a hands-on understanding of the pivotal role foreign-invested enterprises play in Thailand’s sustainable transformation. The interactive format received highly positive feedback and enthusiastic participation from the attending youth.

Turning Advocacy into Action: The Integrated Impact of Institutional Recognition and International Visibility

“When a young person can stand inside the United Nations headquarters and present their sustainability action plan—backed by research data and guided by expert mentors—that’s the moment when advocacy truly becomes action,” said Jack Huang. He emphasised that the most valuable aspect of this forum lies in its integration of fieldwork, international visibility, and institutional support, creating a genuinely empowered testing ground for youth leadership.

This youth-led, expert-guided hybrid model is set to continue expanding. Huang shared that the organisers plan to hold regional follow-up forums in both Taipei and Nairobi this July, followed by a special youth dialogue session during the UN General Assembly in New York this September. By the end of the year, the movement will culminate at COP30 in Brazil, with a youth-led showcase of climate solutions from Global South nations—officially bringing this youth-driven sustainability wave onto the global stage.

“We need more of these spaces,” Huang concluded, “and more governments, companies, and institutions genuinely willing to stand behind young people.”

“The future is already here—it’s just a matter of deciding who we want to build it with.”

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The post 30 Youth Nations Unite in Bangkok to Co-Create a Sustainability Declaration! UN OICT Consultant Jack Huang: Youth Must Be More Than Advocates—They Must Become Curators of Action first appeared on The Icons.

The week-long 2025 UN-SDGs Bootcamp & Forum was not just a summit of idealism—it was a demonstration of concrete action. At the heart of this movement was Jay Wei, Chairman of the Chinese Youth Growth Foundation, the principal organiser of the event. Key partners also included the STUF United Fund, Asia Pacific Center.

Jay Wei has long been devoted to international education and the development of youth leadership. He firmly believes, “The competitiveness of the future lies not in competition, but in collaboration. The foundation of co-creation is trust—and the seed of trust is planted when someone chooses altruism first.” In an interview with《The Icons》Bangkok team, his words were calm yet resolute, revealing not only the patience of an educator, but also the unwavering determination of a changemaker.

A key supporter in bringing the forum to life was the STUF United Fund, Asia Pacific Center, which sponsored youth representatives from countries including Haiti, Saint Vincent, and Paraguay. Chairperson Peter Lin remarked in his opening speech that uniting youth leaders from different regions is essential for driving the world more effectively toward sustainability. “Sustainability should never be just a slogan. Enterprises with social responsibility must actively support young leaders in participating in international forums and related initiatives.”

Using Education to Cross Borders and Empower Youth as True Agents of Change

As the initiator of this United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) forum series, Jay Wei is more than an event organiser—he is a weaver of meaning and purpose. Since 2023, he has led delegations of youth, academic, and industry representatives to international platforms such as COP28 in Dubai, where he helped amplify the voices of young people within global climate conversations. In 2024, he brought this mission to Okinawa, Japan, convening youth from multiple nations to co-author the 2024 Okinawa Youth Sustainability Declaration, which was later presented at COP29.

The 2025 UN-SDGs Bootcamp & Forum in Bangkok marked a pivotal milestone in this ongoing journey. Not only did Jay Wei gather youth leaders from 30 countries for deep intercultural exchange, but he also led them in formally presenting the 2025 Bangkok Youth Sustainability Declaration and the 2025 Bangkok Sustainability Book at the UN Asia-Pacific headquarters.

“We made sure young people were not just participants, but designers; not just listeners, but voices. This kind of engagement is a truly powerful way to change the future,” he said.

Jay Wei: Global Advocacy Must Be Rooted in Altruism

“As long as we are dealing with global sustainability, it must be co-created. And co-creation is never just a slogan—it requires space, structure, and above all, the courage to trust first,” Jay Wei told《The Icons》Bangkok team. For him, engaging in international advocacy means being the first to give, to share selflessly, so that participants from different cultures and systems can begin to collaborate in an open and secure environment.

It is precisely this philosophy that enabled the forum to bring together youth from five continents, allowing them to transcend language and national boundaries and co-create meaningful policy recommendations and action plans in a short amount of time. Jay Wei firmly believes that when trust becomes the foundation, a strong and lasting international youth network can be built—this belief remains his greatest motivation for continuing the work.

Don’t Get Too Used to Telling Youth What They Should Do

Michal Andrzej Glasek, a strategy and development advisor from Poland who also took part in the forum, shared his thoughts in an interview with《The Icons》: “We’ve become too accustomed to telling young people what they should do, and often overlook the fact that they already possess tremendous creativity and problem-solving potential.”

Glasek explained that he wasn’t originally from an education background, but his experience at the 2024 youth forum in Okinawa deeply inspired him. “A profound conversation with Japanese students changed my perspective. It made me reflect on how business leaders can respond to the call of our times—not only by creating value, but by becoming enablers who amplify the impact of others,” he said.

The defining keyword of the 2025 Bangkok Sustainability Book: Trust

Kimanzi Margaret Wanjiru, one of the lead editors of the 2025 Bangkok Sustainability Book and a youth representative from Kenya, shared candidly in an interview with《The Icons》 that when the team was first tasked with writing the “Sustainability Book,” they were overwhelmed and unsure.

“None of us had ever written a book. We didn’t even know what a real ‘solution’ looked like,” she said. But it was precisely this uncertainty that made the process so genuine and moving.

“Every time we gathered to discuss, teammates from different countries brought in different perspectives. We inspired each other, challenged each other, and even redefined what counts as a problem—and what counts as action. In the end, we learned that real impact doesn’t come from massive resources, but from honest connection and the belief that we can create change.”

“If you ask me what the most important word is,” Kimanzi said,

“It’s trust.”

The ASEAN Sustainability Impact Accelerator: Guiding More Global Youth Leaders into the International Innovation Ecosystem

This year’s forum also planted the seeds for the next stage of development—Southeast Bangkok University will partner with the Chinese Youth Growth Foundation to establish the SDGs Impact Accelerator, a platform designed to support innovation and incubation for young leaders across ASEAN and neighbouring countries.

In an interview with《The Icons》Bangkok team, Dr. Pattarada Rungruang, Vice President of Southeast Bangkok University, shared: “From early childhood education to doctoral programs, we offer a comprehensive system, along with the capacity to connect youth communities across Southeast Asia—including Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Through our research centres and innovation-focused curriculum, we will work alongside the Chinese Youth Growth Foundation to support new-generation leaders who have ideas but lack opportunities. Our goal is to bring more young people into the global innovation ecosystem and turn regional-to-global collaboration into real momentum.”

A Continuous Journey: From the Arab World, Japan, Thailand, and New York to Brazil

Jay Wei firmly believes that the ultimate mission of education is to cultivate citizens who can co-create, not individuals who simply compete. “Gen Z is not a future possibility—they are the answer for now. They must be able to challenge the status quo, but more importantly, to take action,” he says.

Since leading a group of international youth leaders to participate in COP28 in Dubai, Jay Wei has envisioned a new model for international education—one that blends forums, real-world missions, and cross-cultural dialogue. In this model, students are no longer passive recipients of knowledge in classrooms; they are active participants on the ground, engaging with global issues, joining policy discussions, and even offering their own solutions. From Dubai to Okinawa to Bangkok, he has steadily transformed this vision into a global movement. The next stop: Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Jack Huang, Advisor to the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology and Youth Impact Chair of the forum, noted, “The successful execution of this forum in Bangkok proves how youth can generate tangible impact through creativity and collaboration. I believe this will inspire more young leaders who care about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to build connections with international organisations, as well as public and private sectors, and amplify their voices.”

Harry Hsu, CEO of《The Icons》, who was invited as a keynote speaker, added, “The value of this forum lies not only in giving young leaders a chance to be heard, but in showing them that their voices truly matter to the world. When a young leader realises that their words can influence decisions and shift the flow of resources, that awareness transforms into responsibility, maturity, and action. True international engagement isn’t just about entering the conference room—it’s about being remembered for what you said.”

When the World Needs Rebuilding, Education Must Be Redefined

“In July 2025, our team will return to Nairobi, Kenya to host the next UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Bootcamp and a 30-nation youth forum,” Jay Wei announced. “We’re inviting over 50 youth representatives from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, and we plan to present the 2025 Nairobi Youth Sustainability Declaration and the 2025 Nairobi Sustainability Book at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme. This effort aims to expand the global impact of our co-creation movement.”

“When the world needs rebuilding, education must be redefined.”

Jay Wei is not one for slogans—he believes in steady, grounded work. For him, education is not a campaign; it’s a long-term commitment to action. Rather than waiting for the world to change, he walks ahead into uncertainty, quietly gathering like-minded allies to light the way.

“We can’t afford to wait for change—we must actively create it. I believe that empowering youth to become bridges between worlds is deeply meaningful. It sparks new possibilities and makes global transformation truly achievable.”

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Thailand’s strategic geographic location, coupled with its leadership within ASEAN, grants it unique value in fostering cooperation among emerging economies:

“Thailand’s membership will not only elevate its international influence but also position it as a bridge between BRICS and ASEAN. This role will deepen regional cooperation and attract more international capital and technology flows.”

Thailand’s Geopolitical Advantage: A Strategic Role in Regional Cooperation

Thailand’s geographic location has long established it as a pivotal nation in Asia. Situated at the heart of Southeast Asia, it is not only a crucial geopolitical hub but also a bridge connecting East Asia and South Asia. This geographic advantage has historically made Thailand a focal point for competing global powers. Remarkably, Thailand’s flexible diplomatic strategies have allowed it to maintain independence without ever being colonized—an exceptional achievement among Asian nations.

Jack Huang pointed out that during the Cold War, Thailand served as an important ally of the United States in Southeast Asia while maintaining certain cooperative ties with China. This tradition of balanced diplomacy continues to this day, securing Thailand a favorable position in regional and international geopolitics. “Thailand’s unique geographic advantages and diplomatic agility have made it a key player within ASEAN, allowing it to establish a foothold between Eastern and Western powers,” Jack emphasized in the interview.

Thailand’s export-driven economic model has fueled its rapid growth. In recent years, it has become a manufacturing hub in the region, attracting substantial foreign investment. In 2023, exports to China, Japan, and the United States accounted for the majority of Thailand’s total trade volume, with exports to China alone comprising approximately 20% of the total. However, its heavy reliance on a single market has exposed the resilience of Thailand’s economy to certain risks.

“Thailand must explore new opportunities beyond traditional markets to diversify risks and enhance national competitiveness,” Jack remarked.

Aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals: Thailand’s Strategic Positioning

Thailand’s green economic transition aligns closely with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 13 on Climate Action and Goal 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy. Jack highlighted Thailand’s active promotion of renewable energy infrastructure, such as solar and wind power, and the introduction of modern agricultural technologies to achieve sustainable production, contributing to Goal 2 on Food Security.

Thailand is also advancing water resource management and urban sustainability planning. By collaborating with BRICS, the country gains access to technical support and funding, gradually implementing a low-carbon economic blueprint. “In pursuing these SDGs, Thailand not only leverages its geographic advantages but also sets a successful example of transformation for the world,” Jack remarked. Through BRICS cooperation, Thailand has spearheaded renewable energy projects and enhanced regional agricultural resilience, contributing to global sustainability.

Economic Diversification: Thailand’s Strategic Choice

Thailand’s formal application to join BRICS in 2024 quickly became a focal point of international discussion. Regarding this decision, Jack commented, “BRICS has become synonymous with emerging market economies, with a combined economic output surpassing the G7. Thailand’s move clearly reflects its desire for economic diversification and increased geopolitical influence.”

Through the BRICS platform, Thailand aims to deepen cooperation with other emerging economies, particularly in infrastructure, technology transfer, and trade finance. China’s Belt and Road Initiative offers a ready model for cooperation, with investments in Thailand’s high-speed rail, ports, and industrial parks laying the groundwork for BRICS membership.

Jack also highlighted the potential benefits from BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB), which could provide funding for sustainable development projects and reduce reliance on Western financial systems. Diplomatically, Thailand continues to demonstrate its balancing act: “Thailand maintains close ties with traditional Western allies while also engaging with emerging powers in the East. This dual approach is key to its international standing.”

However, challenges remain, particularly in managing the potential impact on its military and economic relationships with the United States. Jack emphasized that this requires Thailand to exhibit a high degree of diplomatic flexibility and intelligence.

Multilateral Collaboration: Synergies Between ASEAN and BRICS

Looking ahead, Huang expressed confidence in Thailand’s role within BRICS, envisioning the country as a bridge between BRICS and ASEAN to attract more capital and technology into Southeast Asia.

“BRICS represents the trend of a multipolar world. Thailand’s membership brings new opportunities not only for itself but also for the entire ASEAN region,” Huang stated. He also warned of challenges within BRICS, such as geopolitical tensions between China and India and the isolation of Russia due to sanctions, which could affect the organization’s cohesion.

In conclusion, Huang stressed that Thailand’s success depends on finding the optimal balance between traditional allies and emerging partners. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for Thailand to redefine its position in the new global economic order.

BRICS is no longer merely a concept of geoeconomics but a symbol of the shifting center of global economic gravity. At this pivotal moment, Thailand’s alignment with BRICS reflects its deep understanding of global trends and strategic foresight.

“Thailand’s decision is not only about economic growth but also about gaining a stronger voice in the global economic landscape. While challenges lie ahead, Thailand’s adaptability and resilience will pave the way for a more prosperous and sustainable future.”

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The post Jack Huang, UN IT Consultant: Thailand as a “Bridge” Between BRICS and ASEAN, Driving Capital and Technology into Southeast Asia first appeared on The Icons.