Yasuo Fukuda, chairman of the Council of Advisors of Boao Forum for Asia and former Japanese prime minister, speaks at Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation: New Opportunities and Challenges session on March 29, 2023 during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 in Boao, Hainan province. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Asian countries should further enhance their cooperation to make the region a pacesetter for international cooperation and contribute to global economic recovery, a forum heard.
“For the people in Asia, we have gone through various kinds of cold and hot wars and different hardships, so peace is precious and development is hard won,” said Zeng Peiyan, vice-chairman of the Council of Advisors of the Boao Forum for Asia, or BFA, and a former Chinese vice-premier.
Referring to the forum theme An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges, Yasuo Fukuda, chairman of BFA’s Council of Advisors and former prime minister of Japan, said the theme is a timely topic that reflects the current global landscape
He was speaking at a panel discussion titled Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation: New Opportunities and Challenges on March 29 during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 in Boao town of Qionghai city, South China's Hainan province.
Noting that Asia is the world’s most dynamic region that accounts for 40 percent of the global economy, Zeng said the regional countries should jointly build an Asia that is secure and peaceful, prosperous and open, and one with mutually beneficial cooperation, which will make the region a pacesetter for international cooperation.
Referring to the forum theme An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges, Yasuo Fukuda, chairman of BFA’s Council of Advisors and former prime minister of Japan, said the theme is a timely topic that reflects the current global landscape.
“It is an important time to discuss this issue,” said Fukuda. “No one would deny the importance of solidarity. But how to make it happen is not only a question for the BFA but also for the world.”
“It must be emphasized that Southeast Asia and the wider region should not be a region for major power rivalry,” said Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, adding that the Asia-Pacific region needs to emphasize inclusiveness and cooperation.
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As the 10-member bloc is expected to become the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030, Kao said ASEAN will further expand investment in emerging sectors such as green economy and digitalization, while promoting the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.
Effective Jan 1, 2022, RCEP is a mega-regional free trade pact comprising all the ASEAN member states and their five trading partners in the Asia-Pacific, including China.
It represents about 30 percent of global trade and investment.
“ASEAN.. needs to remain vigilant against the challenges … given the global uncertainties and so on,” said Sok Sopheak, secretary of state of Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce.
New challenges will also arise for the bloc amid rapid growth in trade in the region due to economic integration and globalization, Sok added.
Zhang Yuyan, director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the RCEP has resulted in significant growth in trade and investment exchanges among the signatories.
For example, China’s trade with other RCEP members expanded 7.5 percent year-on-year to about $12.95 trillion yuan ($1.88 trillion) in 2022, accounting for 30.8 percent of the country’s total foreign trade value, according to data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
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The RCEP needs to be further enriched and improved to include rules on more detailed aspects, such as environment and state-owned enterprises, said Zhang Yuyan, who hopes that more economies can join the trading agreement to jointly generate more benefits.
A panel discussion on Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation: New Opportunities and Challenges on March 29, 2023 during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 in the Boao town of Qionghai in South China's Hainan province. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Zhang Jianqiu, CEO of Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, said Asia, especially Southeast Asia, has been a key focus of the company’s globalization strategy since 2018, with its products available across the region after two manufacturing bases were set up in Thailand and Indonesia.
Zhang Jianqiu said the company is working to promote sustainability in its overseas factories. Citing its Indonesian base as an example, by using environmentally friendly equipment and renewable energy, the company has managed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by over 8,000 tons per year.
“The role of green finance and insurance in promoting green and low-carbon transition has not been fully developed yet and it has a lot of potential,” said Sheng Hetai, vice-chairman and president of China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation.
Green finance and insurance can help encourage companies to reduce pollution and energy usage through pollution liability insurance, Sheng said. He added that the company has stopped providing insurance coverage for new coal-fired power plants overseas.
