On January 29, representatives of the World Youth Festival Directorate took part in the strategic session “Strength in Unity,” organized with the support of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance. The discussion was part of a series of events organized by the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Network, which is taking place from January 27 to 29 in Vientiane, Laos.

Representatives of ASEAN regional divisions from Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines participated in the strategic session.

During the session, Russian representatives spoke about the BRICS Women's Business Alliance and the opportunities that the organization offers to women entrepreneurs.

Representatives of the World Youth Festival Directorate invited the audience to participate in the International Festival of Youth, which will be held in Ekaterinburg from September 11 to 17, 2026. The largest international youth event will bring together 10,000 young people from 190 countries around the world: 5,000 from Russia and 5,000 from other countries.

During the session, representatives of the World Youth Festival Directorate also gave a presentation on the international mentoring program for young people from BRICS+ countries, which focuses on the development of youth entrepreneurship and high technology. Young entrepreneurs, project and startup authors, as well as highly qualified specialists from around the world can participate in the program. The presentation paid particular attention to the involvement of women entrepreneurs, including representatives from ASEAN countries.

The WYFD representatives also took part in a business game dedicated to developing ideas for joint projects in the ASEAN and BRICS regions. Key topics of discussion included the development of education, artificial intelligence, mentoring, digitalization and high technology, youth entrepreneurship, and other promising areas of cooperation.

Overview:

The World Youth Festival took place on March 1–7, 2024 in Sirius, according to the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of international youth cooperation. The WYF-2024 brought together 20,000 young leaders from 190 countries.

In accordance with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on preserving and developing the legacy of the World Youth Festival, which took place on the Sirius Federal Territory in 2024 and united 20,000 young people from 190 countries of the world, festival events on the territory of the Russian Federation will be held annually. The next World Youth Festival for 20,000 participants will be held in 2030. In 2026, there will be a smaller event, an International Festival of Youth with 10,000 participants. In between, the World Youth Festival’s themed Assemblies will be held annually for 2,000 participants.

The first World Youth Festival Assembly was held in Nizhny Novgorod from September 17 to 21, 2025 and brought together 2,000 young people from 120 countries.

The World Youth Festival Directorate continues the work aimed at strengthening international youth cooperation.