Movers and Shakers Converge at the Bo’ao Forum for Asia

By staff reporter LUO JIANYING

Vice President Zeng Qinghong speaking at the opening ceremony of the Bo'ao Forum for Asia.	Ken Torok, president of UPS Asia Pacific, at the BFA.	A bird’s-eye view of Bo’ao.

“I expect the Bo’ao Forum for Asia to become a training platform for Chinese entrepreneurs,” stated Long Yongtu, secretary general of the Bo’ao Forum for Asia (BFA), at the Forum’s 2006 annual conference.

There was a dramatic change in ratio of this year’s participants: of the 850 delegates in attendance, 650 were from enterprises, the remaining 200 from governments. Long Yongtu was delighted at this development, saying that it marked the formation of the Bo’ao Forum for Asia with enterprises as its main body.

At a press conference held by the International Logistics Conference in 2004, Long Yongtu admitted that despite the success of annual conferences over the past few years, they have been criticized for a lack of specific points of discussion. Entrepreneur summit conferences are now planned wherein the role enterprises play within the economy will be clarified. The BFA 2006 marked the debut of enterprises as main players.

“We are strengthening the BFA’s function of providing services to Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs, for whom we hope to provide a communications platform. This represents the foundation of BFA sustainable development,” Long Yongtu said. The BFA will encourage entrepreneurs to meet and interact and, through government officials also involved in the BFA, help them understand how government policies will affect their business. The BFA Secretariat has helped to arrange more than 100 meetings between various enterprises.

“Chinese businessmen attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, but could not find what they were looking for because no Chinese translation was provided. My dream is to make the BFA a platform on which to train and equip Chinese entrepreneurs to compete in international market,” Long Yongtu said.

Long likens world trade to a huge market to which participating countries, in the same way as companies, send their delegates to negotiate commodity prices. ASEAN and WTO provide venues for these negotiations. APEC summits are held when negotiations reach stalemate and prices cannot be agreed. Heads of governments meet at these summits to oil the wheels of the process and minimize lost opportunities.

The Bo’ao Forum for Asia is a less formal, non-governmental organization that gives government officials, entrepreneurs, specialists and scholars the chance to get together to discuss problems that arise during negotiations and seek solutions. As it is a non-governmental organization, it follows that enterprises should play a leading role within it.

Media representatives at the 2006 Bo’ao Forum for Asia were more interested in observing and learning what the entrepreneurs in attendance had to say than in the chairman and secretary general of the BFA. Few journalists were present at the BFA AC press conference despite its being presided over by Chairman Fidel Valdez Ramos of the BFA Board of Directors and Secretary General Long Yongtu. At the Roundtable “21st Century Leaders,” however, which was held at almost the same time and attended by entrepreneurs such as Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu.com, Inc. and Wong Kwong Yu, president of Gome Electrical Appliances Group, the press presence was so great that many journalists had to be content with standing room only.

Entrepreneurs such as Ken Torok, president of UPS Asia Pacific; Jess S. Derberg, CEO of A.P. Moller-Maersk; Kevan Watts, chairman of Merrill Lunch International Inc.; Vincent H. C. Cheng, chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation; and Haruhiko Kuroda, president of Asian Development Bank, presided over meetings and made speeches. Most entrepreneurs were from the Chinese mainland, among them Wei Jiafu, president of COSCO; Guo Shuqing, chairman of China Construction Bank; Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu.com, Inc.; Wong Kwong Yu, president of Gome Electrical Appliances Group; Pan Gang, chairman and president of Inner Mongolia Yili Group Co., Ltd.; Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent Co., Ltd.; Pan Shiyi, chairman of SOHO China Company Ltd.; and Yu Liang, general manager of Vanke Co., Ltd.

Develop Regional Economy

The Bo’ao Forum for Asia has gradually developed into the most influential economic forum on the Asian continent. In 2006 two new member states, New Zealand and Israel, joined, bringing BFA membership to 28.

After the SARS crisis, the BFA Secretariat and the Asian Development Bank jointly sponsored an international conference whose theme was “SARS and Asian (Chinese) Economy.” Its conclusions were: “The impact of SARS on the Asian and Chinese economies is temporary, partial and reversible.” The BFA also cooperated with the World Tourism Organization in holding a conference on revitalizing Asian tourism.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BFA, Fidel Valdez Ramos, said, “I think of the BFA as a multi-faceted, multi-level forum in which international, global and national issues are discussed. Journalists covering the event include representatives from Chinese localities, the Asia and Pacific and other regions, and the global media. Topics under discussion include globalization, terrorism, environment and energy.”

Long Yongtu stated that the Secretariat is determined to make the BFA the world’s most active international economic forum and authoritative think tank on Asian research. He confirmed that it would play an ever-greater role in promoting economic cooperation and development in Asia.

The fifth annual BFA conference opened on April 21 and concluded on April 23, 2006. Its theme was “New opportunities in Asia: Driving Growth to the Next Level.” Of the Forum’s 850 formal delegates, 450 were from overseas, marking the first time that those from the Chinese mainland were outnumbered. Delegates discussed the new growth of Asian economy.

Toshihiro Nikai, Japanese minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, expressed his hope that relations between Japan and China would continue to improve. He spoke of the lotus, symbol of peace and generosity, and the discovery of a cache of 2,000-year-old lotus seeds in the University of Tokyo grounds that had probably come from China to Japan. The Chinese seeds were planted in Japanese earth and produced beautiful blooms. Mr. Nikai expressed hope that the spirit of peace, generosity and friendship they symbolized would spread throughout Asia. Vinay Kwatra, deputy mission chief of the Indian embassy to China, stressed that despite China’s being characterized as a dragon and India as an elephant, the two economies are complementary and should learn from each other rather than compete.

Zeng Qinghong, vice president of the People’s Republic of China, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony entitled “Seize New Opportunities in Asia and Work for a Better Future for the World” in which he said that China’s development would provide new opportunities for win-win progress. Zeng went on to list three of Asia’s current advantages: the first that it is currently undergoing a relatively stable and peaceful period of development; second, that it has sustained an unprecedented momentum of development; and third that the overall peace, stability and development in Asia have led to rapid progress in the regional cooperation process.

He also pointed out that in firmly pursuing peaceful development China has gained strength, which has created opportunities for its neighbors and the whole world. Since joining the WTO, China has imported close to US $500 billion of goods annually, creating 10 million jobs for other countries and regions.

Statistics show that China’s imports from countries and regions in Asia totaled US $440 billion in 2005, accounting for 67 percent of China’s total imports, and an increase of 20 percent over the previous year. Overseas investment by Chinese companies has increased by over 20 percent annually, 80 percent of it in Asia.

In 2005, 31 million Chinese traveled abroad, the majority of them in Asia.

China thus continues to play a vital role in promoting economic growth in Asia and the world.