On 16 October, TASS hosted a news conference on the upcoming 5th BRICS Young Diplomats Forum scheduled for 21-24 October in Kazan.
The participants of the event included Konstantin Kolpakov, Chairman of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Young Diplomats’ Council, Mikhail Kalugin, Head of the BRICS Office, Russian Foreign Ministry, Steven Seagal, Special Representative for Russia-US Humanitarian Links, Tatyana Seliverstova, Head of the International Division of Youth Projects and Programmes Department of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, Rinat Sadykov, Deputy Minister for Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan, and Vladimir Morozov, Vice Rector for HR Policy at the MGIMO University.
The participants discussed the Forum’s format as well as programme and highlighted the role of youth diplomacy in developing international cooperation.
Konstantin Kolpakov commented that this type of Forum provides opportunity for young diplomats to meet each other and discuss topical international issues, which strengthens trust and friendship between countries.
Steven Seagal emphasized the role of young diplomats in international cooperation. After all, young people bring new thoughts and ideas which create huge potential for innovation and new approaches.
Mikhail Kalugin noted that the 5th BRICS Young Diplomats Forum will be a special event during the Russian BRICS Chairmanship in 2020: “Due to the pandemic-related restrictions, the young diplomats from the BRICS capitals could not travel here. But we found a solution. Young diplomats working at the diplomatic missions of the BRICS countries in Russia were invited to the Forum. We are convinced that their work during the Forum will contribute to strengthening the horizontal linkages between the young representatives of the BRICS foreign ministries.”
The programme of the Forum includes working sessions and meetings with the expert community and representatives of regional authorities, as well as visits to the IT industry facilities in the Republic of Tatarstan.
As in the past, the event will follow the concept of “horizontal diplomacy” proposed by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Young Diplomats’ Council. The concept provides for creating a unique network of platforms for long-term cooperation between representatives of foreign ministries from all over the world.
Forum participants will discuss developing five-sided humanitarian cooperation, prospects for cooperating with regional organizations as part of the outreach and BRICS+ formats, digitalization of diplomatic activities and other topical issues.
The event is organized by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ministry’s Young Diplomats’ Council, the Ministry for Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Academy of Youth Diplomacy public organization.