Kia Motors Corporation with support from Naza Kia Malaysia bids farewell to Malaysia as they end the thought-provoking and highly educational week-long Kia Eco Dynamic Expedition on a high note.
The 7th annual expedition was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from January 6 to 14, 2017, with 91 middle and high school students from 6 different countries participating.
The Kia Eco Dynamics Expedition is a long-running social contribution program first created in 2010 to cultivate global students’ understanding of the problems faced by developing countries such as shortage of clean water and poor hygiene while supporting the students in developing innovative solutions to rectify such problems.
The participants were mentored by professors from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) who have extensive expertise in environmental technology issues for the rural regions of Malaysia. The students then visited a local village, Kampung Orang Asli Changkat Bintang, to develop eco-friendly solutions to some of the pressing problems residents are facing.
Despite coming from different corners of the world, the students were in sync when it came to their reasons for taking part in the expedition. They echoed similar sentiments of wanting to experience a different culture from their own, make new friends and most importantly, take active roles in implementing positive changes through scientific technology.
Their passion was on full display as they made their final presentations after interviewing the villagers of Kampung Orang Asli Changkat Bintang and analysing the problems faced by the villagers, delivering innovation and creative results.
“We were pleased to welcome the participants of the Kia Eco Dynamic Expedition to Malaysia and show them absolute hospitality. The benefits of this program are twofold in that the participants were educated on the importance of environmental conservation and to be creative and innovative in providing solutions through science, engineering and technology as well as engage in a forum of cultural exchange with their international peers. It would be a great honour to have the program take place here again in the future as the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. It is my hope that they take what they learned here and apply this knowledge in solving global issues,” said Dato’ Samson Anand George, Group Chief Operating Officer, Automotive Group, Naza Corporation Holdings.
Hye-Young Lee, Head of the Youth Marketing Team at Kia Motors Corp., said, “The Kia Eco Dynamics Expedition is a meaningful global volunteer program for students to help raise eco-friendly awareness by developing their own ideas for creating a better world. It is clear that targeting the world’s youth and involving them in eco-friendly activities is very important for our future, and we will continue to expand the size and scope of the Kia Eco Dynamics Expedition program going forward.”
The program is sponsored by Kia Motors and organised by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) National Committee for the Republic of Korea. Last year as part of the Kia Eco Dynamic Expedition, 50 international students went to Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Miak, Bentong, Pahang to improve the quality of the residential environment.
