by V.A. Zubkov, BFA Board Member

and Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Cooperation with the Gas Exporting Countries Forum

Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2021, which will be a milestone event for its development as it grows mature.

Based in Asia, the Forum is committed to developing economic cooperation among countries in the region. The great need for such a platform is also obvious: Asia is the locomotive of world economic development, and its contribution rate to world economic growth has exceeded 50% in recent years. Undoubtedly, Asia will continue to be the most important driving force of world economic development. In the near future, Asia will become the core of recovery emerging from the COVID crisis.

" Through the unremitting efforts of the BFA Board of Directors and its Secretariat in enviormental protection, the Forum will continue to play a key role as an international dialogue platform in promoting multilateral cooperation in Asia and the world at large."

After 20 years of development, the Forum has become one of the most authoratative platforms for regional integration in Asia and beyond. With such broad global orientation, the Forum aims to enhance the dialogue and economic ties between Asia and the rest of the world. This is of special significance when the multilateral cooperation mechanism is facing severe challenges at this moment.

It is undoubtful that one of the challenges is the COVID-19 pandemic. The catastrophe endured by mankind showes that all countries in the world need closer cooperation and unity. It is key to unite all forces to safeguard human life and health, on the basis of mutual help and respect. In this context, Russia and China have set a very good  example of helping and supporting each other. The two countries work closely not only in the economic sectors, but also in humanitarian fields including medical support. The BFA will certainly become a platform for countries from Asia and other parts of the world to have constructive dialogues, to share their experiences in combating the pandemic through this difficult time.

" In 2019 alone, BFA made a series of breakthroughs."

In 2017, I was nominated by Russia as a candidate for BFA Board Member, which was supported by BFA family. I am honored to participate in the work of the BFA Board of Directors in the past years, and I have seen that the preparation of BFA events was meticulous, the topics discussed at the Forum were carefully selected, and the dialogues were organized in an orderly manner.

In 2019 alone, BFA made a series of breakthroughs. In addition to successfully holding its Annual Conference under the theme of "Shared Future, Concerted Action and Common Development", a series of important activities were also carried out, including the first conference of Global Health Forum of BFA, the "International Cooperation on AI" seminar held in cooperation with European and American think tanks, and the first "Economist Roundtable 2019", during which dialogue with diplomats from Initial Countries was held for the first time.

In 2020, despite the fact that coronavirus has been raging throughout the world and home quarantine measures have been put in place everywhere, the work of the BFA Board of Directors and its Secretariat has not been suspended. At present, they are preparing for the BFA Annual Conference 2021, and the 20th anniversary will be held as an important milestone in the history of the Forum. All these achievements couldn't have made without the leadership of BFA Chairman Mr. BAN Ki-moon,  Vice Chairman Mr. ZHOU Xiaochuan and Secretary General Mr. LI Baodong.

" I also believe that the potential and experience accumulated by the BFA in the past 20 years can serve as a guide and reference for forum delegates when exploring path to prosperity and stable development for Asia and other regions. "

The Forum is fully-fledged, howerver it keeps moving forward. Topics discussed at the Forum are expanding every year.

In recent years, BFA has paid close attention to ecological and environmental protection. As the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Cooperation with the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom, the largest gas company in Russia, I believe that one of the practical topics for solving ecological and environmental problems under the BFA  framework is to promote the use of new clean energy including natural gas.

This is a subject of great concern for Russia and China and even for the whole world.  In December 2019, the two heads of state-Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President XI Jinping jointly witnessed the commissioning ceremony of the Russia-China east-route natural gas pipeline.

I believe that the cooperation in developing clean energy not only conforms to one of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations-"ensuring that everyone has access to affordable, reliable and sustainable modern energy", but also contributes to the target of BFA in enhancing the economic integration of Asia. Therefore, I am convinced that the Boao Forum for Asia and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum have the capacity of promoting colaboration in this direction.

I also believe that the potential and experience accumulated by the BFA in the past 20 years can serve as a guide and reference for forum delegates when exploring path to prosperity and stable development for Asia and other regions. Through the unremitting efforts of the BFA Board of Directors and its Secretariat in enviormental protection, the Forum will continue to play a key role as an international dialogue platform in promoting multilateral cooperation in Asia and the world at large.