The 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), the first large-scale international conference mainly held in-person this year, kicked off on Sunday in Boao, South China’s Hainan province.
File photo: AP
Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of BFA and former UN Secretary General, was recently interviewed by People’s Daily.
Ban congratulated China for managing to hold the in-person conference as scheduled. Ban said when the global economy is struggling against the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening of the conference has conveyed our confidence in joining hands in tackling the virus.
In Ban's view, the value of BFA could be attributed to people, ideas and actions. "Boao brings together a diverse and brilliant group of leaders, from government to business to academia to media, to focus on the most pressing issues in Asia and beyond. When the best minds of the world meet in Boao, what they discuss is the source of inspiration, and many innovative ideas will come out. The voices collected in Boao can be quickly translated into policies and actions," Ban said.
"China, as the host country, has always been a strong and active supporter," Ban said, adding that "speeches delivered by Chinese leaders have always been the highlight of the annual conference."
Global governance is high on the agenda of this year’s annual conference. Ban believed that global governance must keep in pace with changes and answer the call of the times. The theme of the Forum, "A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance Belt and Road Cooperation", is a positive response to the common concerns of the international community.
"This is a rare opportunity for leaders from Asia and the world to meet in hybrid formation and explore a number of immediate and long-term challenges," Ban said. “We have an ambitious agenda to fulfill through face-to-face communication".
This year's annual conference is divided into six workshops, covering diverse topics including "dual circulation", financial opening-up, carbon neutrality, digital economy and sustainable development. Ban believes that all these topics were based on the current situation and with a long-term view, focusing on Asia and taking a global view, which reflects the key interests and concerns of the wider Boao family.
Green development has always been a key word. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged China’s efforts to go carbon-neutral by 2060. South Korea placed an emphasis on "just transition" in the process of transforming to a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. "We are seeing more and more commitments from many countries to go carbon-neutral in order to bring global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees." In this respect, Ban especially looked forward to a meaningful discussion on carbon neutrality in Boao. "I would like to draw attention to the session on climate change with a goal to facilitating each country’s ambition toward carbon neutrality which will serve as an important milestone for the fulfillment of the Paris Agreement”, said Ban.
According to Asia Poverty Reduction Report 2020 announced by BFA, Asian countries led global poverty reduction despite pandemic. During Ban’s tenure of UN Secretary General, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and made poverty reduction its top priority. "China has set an outstanding example and contributed greatly to our joint cause of poverty reduction”. Ban pointed out that China has lifted 98.99 million rural people out of poverty, freeing their concerns of rural poverty by the end of 2020 as it committed. "This is a historic achievement not only for China, but a landmark event for the 2030 SDGs set by the UN. There is much to learn from China’s experience”, Ban added.
As the Forum celebrates its 20th anniversary, Ban conveyed great expectations to its future. He believes that the forum will have a stronger voice and have a major influence on international society in the next 20 years.