WEF Announces Opening of 10th East Asia Economic SummitThe World Economic Forum (WEF)'s tenth East Asia Economic Summit will be held from October 29 to 31 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, the WEF announced at a news conference Friday in Hong Kong.Over 800 people from business, the media and government will participate in the summit, the WEF said. The summit, with a theme of "Response to the Recession: Regaining Stability and Growth in Asia", is expected to address issues that have challenged the region and the world recently. "We are faced with a severe downturn that has reached every corner of the globe, including Asia. We hope that our discussion will help to create consensus on ways to fight the global economic downturn and to restore stability," said Frank-Jurgen Richter, director of Asia at the WEF, at the news conference. During the summit, a combination of high-level political dialogues, sessions to foster joint policy initiatives and workshops for business people to formulate action plans for sustainable growth in the future will be held. Invest Hong Kong, a department responsible for attracting investment to Hong Kong under the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is the host partner for the summit. Direct-General of Invest Hong Kong Mike Rowse said at the news conference that the summit is a timely opportunity to take a long, hard look at the pressures Asian economies are facing. He said he was delighted that so many distinguished figures have decided to attend the summit at this difficult time, among which are President of the Republic of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of the People's Republic of China Shi Guangsheng; Mayor of the Chinese city of Shenzhen Yu Youjun; Mayor of Chinese Taipei Ma Ying-jeou; and Director-General Designate of the WTO Supachai Panitchpakdi. The WEF, incorporated in 1971, is an independent and non-profit foundation which convenes global business, political and intellectual leaders annually to discuss ways to improve the state of the world. |
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