The third annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is
scheduled to be held April 24-25 at Boao in south China's Hainan
Province.?
The current session will have many new faces, including Chinese
President Hu Jintao, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Pakistani
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Gzech President Vaclav
Klaus, former US President George Bush and former Mexico President
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce De Leon.
Participants attending the session more than once comprise
former Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mahathir Bin Mohamad,
former president of the Philippines Fidel Ramos, former Australian
Primer Minister Robert James Lee Hawke, Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa and Macao
Special Administrative Region Chief Executive Ho Hau Wah.
Also present will be government ministers from Japan, the
Republic of Korea, Singapore, India, Kazakhstan, Australia and New
Zealand, 26 Chinese ministers and officials at the provincial level
and representatives of prestigious multinational companies. The
session also attract 420 Chinese and overseas journalists.
Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the BFA, said BFA is an open
event, and Asians welcome people from all over the world to discuss
Asian issues.
The appearance of a growing number of new faces indicates that
the forum is exerting a bigger influence, he added.
(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2004)