Leaders and former leaders from 25 countries in Asia and
Australia attended inaugural conference of Boao Forum for Asia,
which is the symbol of Asia's prosperity, stability and harmony on
February 27, 2001 in Boao, Hainan.
East Asia has suffered the financial crisis in 1997. In the face
of this kind of blow and competitions of other economic plates,
more and more Asian countries have realized the inequality in
international trade and investment and even the whole world
economic order, the inequality in the transfer of finance,
investment and technology and the inequality in interests and loss
that globalization brings. The Asian countries have also realized
that economic globalization brings new opportunity as well as
severe challenge for Asia, and they need seek countermeasures that
can bring profits and avoid disadvantages in time. When seeing the
further development of European economic integration and North
American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), the bad organization degree and
the lag-behind state of economic integration in Asia and the fact
that the absence of Asia' voice in international multilateral
co-operation mechanism, more and more Asian countries have realized
strongly at present that to promote the whole competitiveness of
Asian area, they must strengthen dialogue, coordination and
cooperation among Asian countries.
Against this backdrop, in 1998, former Australian Prime Minister
Bob Hawke, former Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and
former Filipino President Fidel V. Ramos put forward the proposal
to establish an "Asian Forum." This proposal was warmly received by
the related Asian countries.
Former Filipino President Fidel V. Ramos and former Australian
Prime Minister Bob Hawke came to China to promote the idea of the
"Asian Forum" in October, 1999. At that time the vice-president Hu
Jintao has expressed the support attitude of China too.
Supported by China and other related countries, through the
joint efforts of various fields, the idea of Boao Forum for Asia
has been put into practice.
(Boaoforum.org April 19, 2004)