"So far, six ASEAN member states have registered their music groups, namely Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam as well as the ASEAN Secretariat."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia as the ASEAN chair will host an ASEAN Youth Cultural Exchange Festival (AYCEF) 2011 on May 1, 2011 to familiarize each member state with the culture of the association`s members.

"So far, six ASEAN member states have registered their music groups, namely Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam as well as the ASEAN Secretariat," Djauhari Oratmangun, the foreign ministry`s director general for ASEAN affairs, said at a press conference.

AYCEF will feature pop-rock art music by 10 bands from each of the ten ASEAN member states. The event will be held at the Backstage Beach Concert Cafe, Ancol, Jakarta. Indonesia will be represented by Pee Wee Gaskins pop-rock group.

The music festival aims to enhance awareness, understanding and solidarity among the youths of ASEAN through the pop-rock music exchange from member states of ASEAN.

Oratmangun said the youth are the next generation of the peoples of ASEAN so that this activity was expected to enable them know each other better and become a media to unite the younger generation in the region.

"We are eager to bring forward the activities of the youth because the ASEAN Community will become theirs. We are just pioneering and it will be they who will live up the community," said Oratmangun.

He added that ASEAN wants its youth to involve themselves actively in the activities of the association.

He went on to say that the involvement of the youth in ASEAN activities is expected to bring economic benefits through their socio cultural activities which the association had not yet taken advantage of.

In the festival, the music groups will present a special song as ASEAN`s token of sympathy pver the earthquake and tsunami disasters that hit Japan on March 11, 2011 that had devastated the eastern coastal regions of the country`s Honsu Island.

The festival will be open to the public where they can enjoy the music exchange program.

The ASEAN Secretariat, the Indonesian Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Jakarta Special Region Administration (Pemda DKI) as well as some private parties will be the main sponsors of the event.
(Uu.KR-VFT/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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