Mr. Sunil KC, CEO/Founder of Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA) attended the Young Thinkers’ Forum as a speaker on 8-9 August 2019 at The Asian Confluence Center, Shillong, India. Mr. KC spoke on the second day of the Forum on the first session on 'Jobs of the future’. Other panelists of the session included Ms. Attryee Barooah, CEO, Webcom, Guwahati, Assam, Ms. Taba Yall Nabam, Proprietor, Khinam Fashion House, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, Mr. Vijay Byrsat, Founder & CEO, Catapult Innovative Solutions and Mr. Tomal Bhattacharjee, CEO, Kathiababa Charitable Society, Tripura. They were engaged in a lively discussion with the participants.

The forum was organized by Asian Confluence in collaboration with the British Deputy High Commission, Kolkata on the theme of “India & the Neighbourhood: Next-Gen Concerns and Issues: Jobs, Skills and Education. The aim of the forum was to attempt to galvanize young thought leaders and policy makers to share their perspectives on three core issues of the next generation: the jobs of tomorrow, the future requirement of skill-sets and the orientation that is needed for the educational system to be future-oriented so as to take advantage of our shared geography in order to usher in shared prosperity.

The forum was one and a half-day event (Day 1: August 8: 18:00 – 20:00 hrs; Day 2: August 9: 09:00 – 17:00 hrs). Participants were from government, academic institutions, universities and think tanks, individual entrepreneurs, civil society organizations and media from across North eastern India and immediate (BBIN), neighbors, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.