Forum on Asia by Asia launched
By Endy M. Bayuni
BOAO, Hainan, China (JP): Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Tuesday launched the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), a new platform for government and non-government leaders of the region to address their problems from regional perspectives.
Jiang and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, two of three leaders who delivered keynote addresses at the inauguration in this new secluded beach resort overlooking the South China Sea, both singled out economic globalization as the overriding issue that the forum should address.
"The beginning of the new millennium has witnessed an in-depth growth of economic globalization and regional economic cooperation," Jiang said. "We Asian countries, though with different national conditions, are faced with the common task of seizing the opportunity, standing up to the challenges and working for steady economic and social development."
Mahathir used the platform to launch another one of his famous broadsides against economic globalization, saying that the process has further widened the gap between the rich industrialized countries and the poor Third World countries.
Former foreign minister Ali Alatas, who heads the Indonesian delegation, said in the inauguration ceremony that Asian countries were confronted with new opportunities and problems unleashed by the forces of globalization.
"If we are to retain control over our future, it is imperative that we strengthen our solidarity and enhance cooperation among ourselves and with other regions of the world," Alatas said.
Representatives from 26 countries in the region, including Australia, gave their endorsement to the new forum which is modeled on the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
Boao, about 90 minutes drive from the provincial capital city Haikkou on Hainan island, is being developed under an ambitious plan to turn it into a Hawaii-style resort. Local officials say development is underway to build no less than 25 luxury hotels and five golf courses in the area to complement Boao's rising prominence in world fora.
The chief difference between the new forum and the one in Davos is that BFA will be predominantly though not exclusively Asian compared to other international organizations which forum initiators claim to be Euro-centric or American-centric.
The forum takes the broadest geographical definition of Asia, with the logo of a map ranging from Japan and Indonesia (not Papua New Guinea as reported by this newspaper on Tuesday) in the east to Saudi Arabia and Turkey in the west. Australia is included largely because the idea had originated from former prime minister Bob Hawke, who also attended the inauguration ceremony.
The two other founders, former Philippine president Fidel Ramos and former Japanese prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, also sit on the forum's board.
BFA strives "to become the premier forum with strong Asian perspectives, promoting the development goals of Asian countries through greater regional economic integration and social responsibility", according to a vision statement outlined at the launching.
While the forum would eventually solicit membership from the corporate world -- reportedly for a $500,000 fee each -- the preliminary work has been carried out mostly by former government officials and scholars from the region. Indonesia's delegation, for example, includes former foreign minister Ali Alatas and former ambassador to China Abdurrahman Gunadirdja.
Conspicuously absent are delegates from Hong Kong and Taiwan, two regions that have plenty of the type of tycoons for whom this forum is intended.
The forum however refrained from making a commitment to hold its inaugural conference in 2002 as originally planned.
BFA Secretary General Tan Sri Dato' Ajit Singh, a veteran Malaysian diplomat who also served as chief of the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta, said in a statement on Monday that he had been asked to organize the first annual conference "no later than early 2003."