9th HYLI Philippine delegates (from left) Paulo Mutuc (DLSU), Nicole Villarojo (DLSU), Adrian Mundin (ADMU) and Raymund Li (UP) with the young kids of the SOS Children Village held in Jakarta, Indonesia (above).

As part of its 100th anniversary celebration, Hitachi will gather the emerging leaders in Asia including those from the Philippines in a special alumni edition of its long-running community relations program in Asia, the Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative (HYLI), to be held in Singapore in July.

Launched in 1996, HYLILI has so far identified and brought together 224 outstanding youth from top universities in seven countries (Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) who had been selected for their academic excellence, strong leadership, and deep understanding of regional and global issues.

In the Philippines, HYLILI selection is conducted in Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle, University of the Philippines, University of San Carlos, and University of Santo Tomas. A great number of the 36 alumni from the Philippines are now rising leaders in government, business, academe, and professions.

Mr. Takayuki Hirota, managing director for Hitachi Asia Ltd. said, “Over the past century, the world has changed greatly but we have never lost the spirit to care for our society. To celebrate 100 years of dedicated effort to improve lives, Hitachi will continue to nurture future decision-makers with the special HYLILI Alumni Forum.”

Themed ‘’Driving Asia to a New Paradigm – What is Asia’s Role in the Global Arena?’’ the event will see the congregation of past HYLI student-participants who will be joined by thought leaders and prominent persons from various parts of Asia. They will discuss and debate on a series of pressing issues affecting Asia.

The 14-year-old HYLI logo has also been refreshed for a more contemporary feel in line with today’s youth and their ideals. The logo  ymbolizes Hitachi’s commitment to reach out to