Political leaders, scholars and entrepreneurs from Asia and around the world are meeting in Boao this weekend to seek out new opportunities for Asia to push its growth to new heights. It's expected that 850 high profile delegates will be in attendance.

 

"The new opportunities are two-fold," said Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the Boao Forum for Asia.

 

Countries and companies in Asia will seek opportunities in the global economy, said Long, while other regions and companies outside Asia have an interest in exploring the opportunities of the fast-growing Asian economy.

 

The Asian Development Bank, in its flagship annual economic publication--Asian Development Outlook--released earlier this month expects Asia to achieve an overall economic expansion of 7.2 percent in 2006 and 7 percent in 2007. That follows the better than expected 7.4 percent in 2005.

 

"In the past four conferences we've had many effective talks, established some conceptual common ground and now we're going to identify some detailed opportunities," said Long in an interview before the Forum opened yesterday.

 

Officially launched in 2002 the Boao Forum's initial theme in 2003 was 'Asia Searching for Win-Win'. This year it's 'New Opportunities for Asia--Driving Growth to the Next Level.'

 

Topics include Asian financial integration, energy cooperation, partnerships between China and India and a number of other topics which relate to China's development. For example, openings in the financial and banking sectors provide opportunities for Asia and the rest of the world.

 

The Boao Forum, held in a small seaside village in China's southernmost island province of Hainan, is a non-governmental event organized by a not-for-profit international group of interested parties. .

 

The success of the forum very much depends on Asia's financial strength and China's economic growth.

 

The emerging Asia has made substantial gains in trade and output in recent years expanding in all areas at rates which have far exceeded global averages.

 

Inter-regional cooperation is important to the trend, according to an annual report on economic integration in Asia issued by the forum and jointly produced with the World Bank.

 

Underlining the region's trade expansion has been a rise in cross-border production sharing with China playing a key role, said the report.

 

It predicted that there was enough room for the region to speed up liberalization in the service sector.

 

"To that end, successful, multilateral service trade liberalization under the Doha Round is important," Long said.

 

The forum will have a session on why the World Trade Organization's Doha Round must succeed. This issue will be addressed by trade ministers from Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

 

However, there remained risks to the region's continued growth, the report warned, such as large and growing global imbalances.

 

The US current account deficit reached record levels in 2005 and was matched by a growing surplus in Asia. The region, which remains highly dependent on external demands, required a combination of measures to adjust to available markets, the report said.

 

(China Daily April 21, 2006)