Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Lee Han-dong, prime minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) delivered speeches at 1st Annual Conference of BFA on Friday.

China's Development is Not Threat, But Opportunity to World: Japanese PM

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Friday rebutted the view that China's economic development was a threat.

"Some see the economic development of China as a threat. I do not," said Koizumi in a speech at the first annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which opened Friday morning in Boao, a scenic seaside town in China's southernmost province of Hainan.

"I believe that its (China's) dynamic economic development presents challenges as well as opportunity for Japan. I believe a rising economic tide and expansion of the market in China will stimulate competition and will prove to be a tremendous opportunity for the world economy as a whole," he said.

Noting the differences in the industrial structures of Japan and China, Koizumi said the two countries could strengthen their mutually complementary bilateral economic relations.

"I see the advancement of Japan-China economic relations, not as a hollowing-out of Japanese industry, but as an opportunity to nurture new industries in Japan and to develop their activities in the Chinese market," he said, adding that this would promote bilateral cooperation in a wider prospect.

According to the Japanese prime minister, Asian countries should intensify their domestic reforms, and at the same time, be fully aware of the importance of conveying to the world the information that Asia is a force for world growth, and strengthen cooperation in the fields of energy, trade and finance.

Koizumi appealed to Asian countries to work together to fight terrorism, and strengthen environmental protection for the sustainable development of the continent.

A Richer China Spells Prosperity for Asia: Thai PM

China's economy is one of the most dynamic in the world and a richer China could only spell prosperity for Asia, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said here Friday.

At the annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia, he said there was great potential for China's economic development and that China's accession to the World Trade Organization was an event of great hope for developing countries in Asia and other parts of the world.

With its rich human and other resources, Asia could achieve more in poverty reduction and economic development with the removal of discriminative measures against developing countries in international trade, the Thai PM said.

He added that China's WTO membership would add to the weight of Asian countries in the new round of international trade talks and help establish a fairer and more justified international trade system.

He said the acceleration of the economic globalization process would not only lead to the internationalization of production and free flow of trade and capital, but also fiercer competition for markets and resources.

In such a context, Asian countries must strive to maximize their interests through mutually beneficial cooperation, he said.

Thaksin spoke highly of the establishment of the forum, saying that for the promotion of internal trade and the competitive edge of Asia as a whole, the continent needed an exchange platform of its own to strengthen dialogue, communication and coordination.

Asia had met big difficulties in economic recovery and development over recent years, it needs a mechanism of cooperation to bring its economy out of the slump, he said.

ROK Prime Minister Urges Asia to Build World Economic Center

Asia should seize chances created by the information technology era and work hard to build itself into a world economic center in the 21st century, according to Lee Han-dong, prime minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

He was speaking at the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) that opened Friday morning in this seaside resort of Boao, on the central eastern coast of Hainan Province.

Though Asia was home to 60 percent of the world's total population, the continent's economies equaled just one third of the world's total, and an overwhelming majority of Asian countries lagged behind developed countries, especially in the degree of industrialization.

"One important reason is that Asian countries, excluding Japan, have failed to react in time to the wave of industrialization," said Lee.

The world was experiencing an information revolution whose influence far exceeded that of industrial revolution, said Lee, warning that the aftermath of Asia lagging behind again in the information age would be more serious and the widening gap would plunge Asia into a vicious cycle.

While urging Asian countries to seize chances created by new technologies, Lee also called on them to make a good use of their rich natural and human resources, open wider, share information, promote regional cooperation, improve industrial competitiveness together and build Asia into a world economic center in the 21st century.

With a common goal, Asian countries had many favorable economic factors, despite some obstacles in promoting regional cooperation, said Lee, who was confident that Asia, with its vitality, would become an important force in development of the world economy in the 21st century.

(People's Daily April 13, 2002)