Asian leaders called for the region’s greater role in the global governance at the inauguration of the 19th World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia in the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City on June 6.
Chaired by Klaus Schwab, WEF executive chairman, the opening ceremony drew foreign leaders including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Myanmar Prime Minister U Thein Sein, and Vice Chairwoman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Zhizhen.
"The theme of rethinking Asia's leadership of this conference is very appropriate to our regional context", said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of host Vietnam in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony.
“A truly new opportunity has dawned on East Asia and so it must take a greater role in global governance,” Dung said.
He emphasised that the WEF held in Vietnam at a point when the country holds the ASEAN chairmanship made it an important event and would contribute practically to the making of policies and orientations of cooperation in the region for the years to come.
Dung said global financial crisis has revealed some shortcomings of the international financial-economic system, while East Asian countries have dealt with these difficulties quite effectively, eventually becoming the locomotive of world economic recovery.
"The region has recovered swiftly from the global economic crisis", Dung said, adding that but it must work to turn recovery into economic growth that is sustainable, equitable and helps to solve global problems such as climate change.
"East Asia is well-positioned to make active contributions to the development of a new, more effective and democratic structure of global governance," said Dung.
The Vietnamese Government leader pointed out the need for each individual nation to consider balancing domestic production and exports as a matter of fact amidst the international trend towards globalisation.
Exports orientations will make an important contribution to the world economy, Dung emphasised, citing Vietnam as an example.
“As the world’s second largest rice exporter, Vietnam has not only tapped its advantage but also contributed to the world food security.”
In regard to the Asia’s rising role, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary General, Surin Pitsuwan, said Asia’s leadership depended on the region’s capacity to solve comprehensive reforms mechanism and handle economic stimulus packages as well as contributions made by each individual Asian nation to international issues.
Russian VTB Bank President Andrei L.Konstin shared his view by saying that there were a lot for Asia to do to emerge as Europe of the previous century.
The question is that what Asia should do to turn itself into Europe while avoiding Greek problems, he said.
Indian Tata Group General Manager Hemant Nerukar pointed out four major questions that Asia should address, namely financial management, enterprises’ social responsibility, management of talents and environment.
An estimated 450 leading government leaders and officials, leading scholars and entrepreneurs from over 50 countries and regions took part in the conference.
During the two-day conference, participants will discuss four major topics including Asia's leadership Agenda, global risks, sustainability and green growth, and regional competitiveness in a global economy.
The World Economic Forum, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is an independent and non-profit international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
WEF on East Asia is a regional event of WEF held annually in Asia./.