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Forum to promote 'Asian family'
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-04-23 23:33 Asian nations should try to catch up with Europe
and America in uniting themselves, a major organizer of the Boao Forum for Asia
(BFA) said.
Compared to Europe and America, Asia is lagging behind in
terms of integration, said Fidel Ramos, board director of the forum and former
president of the Philippines.
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Chinese
President Hu Jintao meets with Fidel Ramos (centre), director of the board
of the Boao forum for Asia and former president of the Philippines, and
Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the forum April 23, 2004 at Boao, Hainan
Island. [newsphoto]
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"It's about time that Asian countries have the feeling of being members of
the Asian family," Ramos said at a press conference.
The forum, whose 2004 annual conference is to be held here this weekend, will
offer a stage for the "heavyweight" figures of the region to discuss closer
co-operation among Asian countries and between Asia and the rest of the world,
Romas said.
Boao, a small seaside village in China's southernmost island province of
Hainan, has attracted more than 1,000 high-profile political leaders, scholars
and entrepreneurs from Asia and around the world.
The economic growth rates of Asia's major developing countries, such as
China, India and Thailand, all exceeded 8 per cent in 2003, pulling the Asian
economy to a new high since the outbreak of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.
Japan, the biggest economy in the region, is also showing signs of recovery.
The region, which is becoming the third most important pillar of the global
economy after Europe and America, has an undoubted potential, Ramos said.
The convergence of efforts from its members for their mutual benefits will
help the region realize its potential, Ramos said.
With the theme of this year's annual conference being "Asia Searching for
Win-Win: An Asia open to the world", the forum, the only non-official
international organization in Asia, hopes to serve as a unique platform for Asia
and the rest of the world to put Asian issues on the table.
The annual conference's secretariat has announced that Vaclav Klaus,
president of the Czech Republic, George Bush, former president of the United
States, and Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico, will all deliver
speeches during the conference.
Chinese President Hu Jintao will also deliver a key speech during Saturday's
opening ceremony. It is reported that he will focus on China's peaceful rising
and opportunities that process would offer Asia.
Conference organizers said they expected Klaus to talk about the European
Union's expansion, an experience from which Asia could learn. Zedillo's comments
on free trade arrangements in America are also expected to be of interest to
Forum participants.
Forum secretary-general Long Yongtu made some use of his special expertise.
He designed a session on global trade talks, which are still in a stalemate
after the failure of a ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization last
year.
Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile and his New Zealand counterpart Jim
Sutton will meet with trade ministers of Asian countries participating in the
session.
On Friday, Hu met some VIPs attending the forum, including Ramos, George
Bush, former Pakistan President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, Cambodian Prime
Minister Hun Sun, Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and Macao SAR
Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah, members of the board of the directors of the
forum and some trade and industry representatives from home and
abroad.
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