Boao Forum for Asia Ulaanbaatar Conference in Mongolia to boost common development

Boao Forum for Asia Ulaanbaatar Conference

Ulaanbaatar: The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) (BFA) Ulaanbaatar Conference to expand cooperation between Mongolia and China and advance common development in Asia and beyond has concluded.

The forum, held for the first time in Mongolia, aims at helping the Chinese entrepreneurs better understand the business environment and related policies in Mongolia and implementing the important consensus reached by top leaders of the two countries, organizers have said.

The hope is that the forum will provide greater opportunities for economic and trade cooperation between China and Mongolia and Asian countries at large.

“China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors linked by rivers and mountains, enjoying profound traditional friendship. The two countries maintained good cooperation in various fields. Both countries announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2014,” the organizers said.

“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Mongolia. Over the last 70 years, the two countries have been living in amity and cooperation and making progress together, becoming a good model of state-to-state relations.”

Mongolia’s Prime Minister of Mongolia U. Khurelsukh stressed the significance of the forum.

“Mongolia holds aspiration to actively partake in the activities of the Boao Forum for Asia, aimed at deepening economic-related information sharing and inter-correlated actions among Asian countries,” he said in his opening remarks.

“Furthermore, Mongolia is hosting the event within the framework of the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Mongolia and China,” he said, quoted by the local news agency Montsame.

The conference with a theme “Concerted Action for Common Development in the New Era” has brought together around 300 public and private delegates from more than 10 countries, including Mongolia, China, South Korea and Pakistan.

According to Montsame, the interactive parallel discussions were held under topics that included “Investment and business opportunities of Mongolia”, “New direction: Aligning with ‘Belt and Road’ & ‘Development Road’”, “Connectivity: Expanding horizons into regional cooperation”, and “Common goal: Green development”.

Li Baodong, the secretary-general of the BFA, said that “at a time when surging unilateralism and protectionism are undermining international norms and order, and hampering global economic growth, the world needs multilateralism more than ever.”

“As Asia is a region with the most dynamic economy in the world, multiple hotspot issues and an unbalanced development, cooperation between Asian countries for development is critical to world stability and prosperity,” he said, quoted by Chinese news agency Xinhua.

For Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar, there is no doubt that “thanks to the conference, relations and cooperation between Mongolia, China and other Asian countries will be deepened in a wide range of areas such as economy, trade, investment and infrastructure.”

The conference, co-sponsored by the BFA and the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the first Boao Forum event held in Mongolia.

The forum takes its name from the town of Boao, in China’s southern Hainan province, which has been the permanent venue for its annual conference since 2002.

Founded by 26 Asian and Australasian states on 27 February 2001, the organization held its first meeting on April 12–13, 2002.

BFA regularly sponsors other forums and meetings related to Asian issues.