(VOVWORLD) - The Boao Forum for Asia annual conference 2019, which concluded in China last week, affirmed the need to enhance regional and global cooperation to maintain Asia’s economic growth rate. Several solutions were proposed and challenges, such as the emergence of protectionism and more global trade barriers, were analyzed.
 A discussion at the BFA 2019 in China
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A report of the Boao Forum for Asia shows that Asia has become the world’s biggest economy. In 2017 Asia’s GDP reached 29.5 trillion USD, while North America’s GDP was 22.5 trillion USD and Europe’s 20.2 trillion USD. Asia is the world’s biggest producer and market.
But Asia is not immune from the negative impacts on the global economy of protectionism and trade disputes.
Consensus to enhance multilateral cooperation
With a common view that Asia is an important driving force in the global economy, countries agreed to support multilateralism and globalization. It’s a major result and most inspiring message from the Boao Forum 2019.
While the global trade system is facing more trade barriers, Asia has shown its economic potential and is predicted to become the world’s biggest cooperative bloc. From 2017-2018, 17 new agreements were signed and 70 bilateral agreements were implemented.
Asian economies have concentrated cooperation on green technology and worked for an all-win outcome from the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to build a more dynamic Asia.
Challenges
A lot of problems have emerged to threaten Asian countries’ development. Noteworthy are the China-US trade dispute, predicted slow growth rates of some big economies, including China, and declining production in Malaysia and Singapore. Fundamental differences between Asian countries have led to economic imbalance, religious and sectarian disputes, poverty, corruption, and a deteriorating ecosystem.