News and Events

Background

Located in Hainan, China, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) aims to foster economic exchange and cooperation within the Asia-Pacific region. It serves as a high-level venue for the discussion of important issues on expanded economic cooperation in the region. The Forum was established as a non-profit organization, governed by a Board of Directors.

Due to the SARS epidemic earlier this year, the 2003 Annual Conference was postponed, originally planned to convene on 18-19 May. The theme of the 2003 conference was "Asia Searching for Win-Win: Development through Cooperation". Heads of state, policymakers, preeminent business executives, and leading scholars from Asia and across the globe attended the conference. Plenary sessions covered the economic situation in Asia and progress in deepening regional economic cooperation, and concurrent sessions addressed science and technology development, monetary and financial cooperation, and economic restructuring.

As one of the main sponsors of this year's event, ADB took the opportunity to promote its regional cooperation projects, programs, and knowledge products. ADB's participation was coordinated by the Governance and Regional Cooperation Division (RSGR), supported by PRC Resident Mission Office (PRCM) and the Office of External Relations (OER). A printed publication and multimedia product covering ADB's session is being produced and will be made available to ADB, developing member-countries (DMCs), and other interested parties.

ADB looks forward to a strong and continued partnership with the Boao Forum for Asia to help support its regional cooperation activities in the Asia-Pacific.

ADB Session

ADB's Team at BFA. From left: David Sobel, Senior Country Programs Specialist, PRC Resident Mission; Joseph Eichenberger, Vice President (Operations 2); Yoshihiro Iwasaki, Director General, South Asia Regional Department and Head, REMU; and Clay Wescott, Principal Regional Cooperation Specialist, Regional and Sustainable Development Department.

ADB's session "Searching for a Breakthrough in Financial Cooperation" included as resource persons senior-level academics, policy makers, and corporate executives primarily from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as both ADB's Vice President (Operations 2) and Head, Regional Economic Monitoring Unit (REMU).

Issues identified for discussion during the session included, among others:

• Established financial cooperation mechanisms; such as the Asian Bond Market and the Chiang Mai Initiative - what's working, what's not and why.
• Current geo-political, economic and operational dimensions of financial cooperation in Asia.
• Regional issues and emerging trends underscoring the need for enhanced monetary and financial cooperation.
• Financial cooperation and how it is a public good for the region as a whole (i.e. strengthening regional economic governance, improving foreign investment climate, or mitigating social impacts of financial crises).
• Ways to strengthen 'existing' mechanisms and explore 'new' areas of financial cooperation that advance economic development and promote regional stability.
• Evolving role of regional assistance to support financial and monetary cooperation in Asia.

Session Papers

• Regional Bond Markets: Rationale, Concerns and Roadmap by S. Ghon Rhee, Ph.D. [ PDF ]
  
• The World Economy at the Crossroads: Outsourcing, Protectionism, and the Global Labor Arbitrage by Stephen S. Roach [ PDF ]

Session Presentations and Speeches

• Creating an Efficient Asian Bond Market--The Private Sector Perspective (Presentation by Rafael Consing, HSBC Head of Debt Finance, South East Asia) [ PDF ]
• Creating an Efficient Asian Bond Market--The Private Sector Perspective (Speech by Rafael Consing, HSBC Head of Debt Finance, South East Asia) [ PDF ]
• Regional Bond Markets: Rationale and Road Map, by S. Ghon Rhee [ PDF ]
• Monetary and Financial Cooperation in East Asia: The Way Ahead (Presentation by Yoshihiro Iwasaki, Head, Regional Economic Monitoring Unit, Asian Development Bank)
• Searching for a Breakthrough in Asian Financial Cooperation (Speech by Vice-President Joseph B. Eichenberger, Operations 2, Asian Development Bank)

News Releases and Resources

• Deeper Regional Financial Cooperation in Asia is a Work in Progress
• Closer Regional Monetary and Financial Cooperation Needed to Reduce Risk of Another Crisis

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ADB links on regional cooperation in Asia

• Regional Cooperation
• Asia Recovery Information Center