Nissan in Thailand celebrates three successful years of its Youth Leadership Development program

Bangkok, 7 April 2020 – Nissan in Thailand celebrates three years of success with its Youth Leadership Development (YLD) program, reaching more than 1,400 students across 10 schools in Ayutthaya, Rayong and Samut Prakarn provinces.

At a YLD award ceremony and exhibition held at Wangnoi Phanomyong Wittaya School in Ayutthaya Province, each of the participating schools proudly showcased their projects that showed the creativity, innovation and passion the students brought to the project over 36 months.

By the end of this first-phase partnership, the YLD program has inspired more than 60 student projects. This leadership training is designed to support the government’s Thailand 4.0 initiative by using a STEM curriculum to give young Thai students the leadership and occupational skills they need to succeed, in line with Nissan’s mission to enrich people’s lives.

At the exhibition, the students from the nine schools proudly displayed, among others, handcrafted leather goods, frosted glass artpieces, wooden plant holders, glass terrariums, eco-friendly cleaning products, butterfly pea sushi and drinks, and baked goods.

 “Nissan is committed to investing in the future of young students by helping them to build skills to improve their future, and provide them boroader career options,” said Peter Galli, vice president of communications for Nissan in Thailand. “It is so refreshing to see the dedication and enthusiasm from students and teachers who are part of this program. Nissan remains committed to giving student participants a set of practical skills they need to succeed as they will play an important role in shaping the future of our country. As a result, we’re able to help these students establish a variety of small businesses that suit the needs of their communities.”

Established in 2017, the YLD program is a partnership between Nissan, CARE International Japan, and Raks Thai Foundation. To date, more than 1,400 students in grade 7-12 have been equipped with leadership, occupational knowledge and skills necessary for developing their own micro-business activities to generate income, and improve their entrepreneurial skills to develop future prospects.   

Nine schools participated at the event to showcase their products, proudly sharing with their peers the successful businesses they have started in line with their interests, strengths, and understanding of their local markets.

“During the past three years of the program, Nissan, Raks Thai, and Care International Japan have worked closely with the goal of helping prepare the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs, as responsible members of their society, with the necessary life and business skills to effectively navigate the life ahead of them,” said Phumjai Krisintu, director of resources development at Raks Thai Foundation.

Worawan ‘Bow’ Kruanrampol, a student from Wongnoi Phranomyong Wittaya School and showing the team’s Bottle Terrarium project, said with a smile: “I am so glad to be part of the YLD program, because it gives me an opportunity to learn about problem-solving, leadership and practical business skills. This program also inspires me to to do better both in life and in school.”

About Nissan Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Nissan was established in Japan since 1933 with the commitment to create Innovation that Excites for customer satisfaction. Nissan wants to improve quality of life for people in society by pursuing a goal of zero emission vehicles and zero fatalities on the road with “Nissan Intelligent Mobility”. The company plans to introduce autonomous drive vehicles across regions for safety and more enjoyable driving experience. Nissan started business in Thailand since 1952. Currently, the Nissan Group of Companies in Thailand has subsidiaries five companies, including two of the production bases, over than 180 showrooms and service centers nationwide network. Vehicle range cover all segments includes 11 models spanning the entry level Eco-Car, SUV, Premium Sedans and Pickup Trucks.