Forum on Asia by Asia launched

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."