Since its creation in 1948, AIESEC has developed a network of 800,000 people across 100 countries and is now present in over 1100 universities and encompasses over 28,000 members.

The weekend meeting was a culmination of reminicing, celebration and reconnecting to the valuable network that AIESEC provides its members and alumni.

The event started on Friday evening where delegates were welcomed to one of the most notable landmarks in Hungary, the national parliament building. The Hungarian State Secretary of International Affairs, Katalin Bogyay addressed the crowd about the importance of intercultural dialogue and cooperation, which organizations such as AIESEC addresses. Athough not an AIESEC alumnua herself, Bogyay noted that she could see very strongly the importance of the AIESEC network.

AIESEC co-founder, Jean Choplin added to the nostalgic atmosphere of the evening by sharing a bit about his dream of establishing such an organization a reality. From seven European countries to now 100 across five continents, AIESEC has grown quite significantly since the dream came into conception in 1948.

“Once upon a time,” he remembers, “speaking of the very early days, some young minds, young business students, felt that time had come after a terrible war to devote their intelligence and energy and imagination to the promotion of peace through true international understanding. The AIESEC vision was born as an original and at the time unique kind of contribution for international understanding.”

Former President of Poland (1995 – 2005) and AIESEC alumnus, Alekander Kwasniewski was meant to attend the event but had to cancel at the last minute due to personal obligations. In a personal letter read out at the event, he expressed his fond memories of his time in AIESEC.
“I still remember with strong emotion my first internship in Wuppertal in 1977. It was a great experience and practice for me; there were also many meetings with young people from around the world. I have met many long-time friends thanks to AIESEC.”
Kwasniewski also expressed his belief in the current members of AIESEC, and the need of focus on young people when looking to the future,
“I have always stressed –as a young activitst, politician and finally as the President of Poland – that every pursuit to reshape and change our world must include young people. Furthermore, these changes should in fact rely on young people – on their vitality, energy and creativity. Present day youngsters will be decision makers of the future: in the field of social politic, economic, international relations and so on. In these aspects the education,experience and attitude of young people – shaped and improved due to an activity with AIESEC – are of particular importance,” he said.

The sentiments of Kwasniewski were echoed by the 150 alumni present at the event. Discussions continued on Saturday when delegates heard an ‘outside’ perspective on the role Europe has played over the last half a century, and later reflected on what the external trends meant for AIESEC at the time.
Director of the Tallberg Forum, Alexander Crawford spoke about the strengths and weaknesses of Europe today. “What I don’t see today is leadership, is a set of leaders, (not leadership in the conceptual tem but the actual individual leadership) which goes back to the sense of governance, governance is the conceptual framework if you like and leader is the person that makes this happen.”

Panel moderator, Professor Anders Aspling, Secretary General for GRLI, agreed. “I think that education and training are key issues for the future, especially the focus on leadership.”
AIESEC is certainly up to taking that challenge, while providing a platform for youth to become globally responsible leaders, making a positive change on society.

So while AIESEC is a breading ground for the worlds future leaders, it is also a network of global change agents from its 60 years of existence—a network that amounts to nearly 800,000 across now 100 countries. One of the aims of the 60th anniversary throughout 2008 is to reconnect this network, to help inspire and initiate positive change in society.

The 60th anniversary will be celebrated throughout the globe in 2008 in four regional events (Tokyo – March, Budapest – May, Brussels – June and Brazil – August) as well as more than 60 national events throughout AIESEC’s 100-country network.

AIESEC is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential. Present in over 1100 universities and encompassing over 28,000 members, AIESEC is the world’s largest youth-run organization. Focusing on providing a platform for leadership development, AIESEC offers over 6500 leadership opportunities each year, in addition to over 4400 international internship opportunities annually.

Source: AIESEC
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