EU and ASEAN talk

Carl (fourth from left) with the audience

The Centre for Extension Education (CEE), Centre for International Studies (CIS) and Institute of Management and Leadership Development (IMLD) organised a talk on 22 November 2017 at Sungai Long Campus.

Present at the event were Minister-Counsellor and Head of Section for Political Affairs, Press and Information Carl-Henrik Hall, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Malaysia, UTAR Vice President for R&D and Commercialisation Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei, CIS Chairperson Dr Ho Ying Chan, IMLD Director Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu, CEE Director Lim Guat Yen, staff and students.

“The topic perhaps may seem quite new to the university as it is about the relationship, opportunity and challenges from region to region. As we know, the world is divided into regions and historically we have many trade relationships besides political aspects. We hope students will benefit from this talk and contribute back to the society,” said Prof Lee in his welcome remark.

The talk, which was featured by speaker, Carl and moderated by Dr Leong Mun Yoon focused on the opportunities and challenges faced by ASEAN and the EU countries. The relationship between EU and ASEAN is very important because EU is the first foreign investor in ASEAN countries and the second trading partner. With the rise of globalisation, EU and ASEAN became more interconnected, the regions also increasingly faced similar challenges such as climate change and terrorism. Fortunately, the two organisations have long and strong experience in fostering cooperation and integration. The EU and ASEAN together represent more than 1 billion people and their shared commitment to regional integration is an indication of the huge potential for their cooperation.

“In today’s world, we see many of our interest coincide as well as the challenges we face. Today is not the easiest of times for our shared world. There are serious political, securities and environmental challenges. At the same time, humanity has never been wealthier or healthier and most importantly, never been better educated than now. Our societies have changed at a faster rate and to a certain extent, we refer the state of our world as liquid modernity. The current generation of students will experience the challenges and opportunities created by such development such as artificial intelligence, robotics, personalised medicine, and even perhaps the average life of expectancy of a hundred years or more and possibly even the colonisation by humans on other planets in our solar system,” said Carl during his talk.

Carl has worked in most parts of the world, first in the Danish Foreign Service and later in the European Commission and most recently in the European External Action Service. He has worked with the European Commission on various policy areas including development cooperation, regional policy and justice and home affairs. Carl obtained his degree in political science from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.

Dr Leong (right) presenting a token of appreciation to Carl