Interview: Boao Forum builds up high expectations for revival of world economy, says Turkish scholar

ISTANBUL, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2022 creates high expectations for contributing to the revival of the world economy and multilateral trade mechanism, especially in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, a Turkish scholar has said.

Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.

Held annually in Boao, a coastal town in China's southernmost province of Hainan, the forum brings together world leaders, business leaders, scholars and think tanks representatives.

This year's event opened on Wednesday and lasted three days.

Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, said there were "vibrant discussions" at the forum on integration and globalization in Asia and other parts of the world, which have been impacted by the pandemic.

The forum is specifically important as it came at a time when the world was hit by the pandemic and rising commodity prices, which put increased pressure on all countries, in addition to the problems in the supply chain, said Colakoglu, also an academic at the BNU-HKBU United International College in Zhuhai in China's southern province of Guangdong.

"In that regard, Boao Forum may be one of the leading forums, bringing different sectors and organizations and world leaders to discuss current issues and build up joint future projections," the scholar told Xinhua in an online interview.

Along with the BFA, Colakoglu also emphasized the growing role of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in contributing to the world economy and trade.

The RCEP, the world's largest free trade deal to date, covers 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five free trade agreement partners, namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

"The RCEP and the Boao Forum focus on further integration for trade, networks, and economic networks in Asia and in the world. In this regard, the RCEP is not only important for Asia and Asian integration, but it will also have some solid outcomes for the global economy," he said.

The RCEP countries account for roughly 30 percent of the world's gross domestic product and population. Over 90 percent of trade in goods among approved member states will gradually be tariff-free.

A successful implementation of the RCEP will promote further integration in the global economy starting from East Asia, Colakoglu said.

The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind offers "a win-win solution for everyone because one-sided development is not good enough to create enough prosperity for humanity," he added.

In this regard, China offers to create more areas for international cooperation with globalized economy through the RCEP and BFA, he said.