More than 1,300 people from around the world, include the richest man in the world, have confirmed they will attend the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), to be held from April 20 to 22, a government official in the host province said Sunday.

This far outnumbers last year's 850 participants, said Liu Jin, a foreign affairs official in China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

He said more than 200 senior government officials from around the world, including at least 40 ministerial-level officials, haveconfirmed they'll participate in this year's forum at Boao, a tropical seaside town in Hainan, which is the permanent home of the conference.

This year's event will also draw more than 600 business elites including the wealthiest, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, said Liu.

The reputation of the Boao Forum has been favorably compared to the Davos Forum, named after a Swiss town, where the World Economic Forum originated.

It's going to be the most exciting forum since the BFA was founded in 2001, said Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the BFA.

Long said the six-year-old BFA will be looking to the participants for new approaches and new ideas for sustainable economic development in Asia. I'm very happy to be welcoming so many distinguished guests here, he said.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will give a keynote speech at the conference and will meet senior officials from other countries.

This year's theme is Asia winning in today's global economy -- innovation and sustainable development. Discussions will include such heavy-weight topics as the integration of the Middle East and South Asia subcontinent into the Asian economy, and the balanced development of China, India and other Asian nations. There will also be workshops on energy, resources, telecommunications, financial services, innovative industries, corporate social responsibilities and environmental protection.

The BFA Annual Conference gathers together senior government officials, business executives and leading academics who are specialists in Asian affairs.

2007-04-16 09:41:12 一位主办省的政府官员在周日称，超过1，300位来自世界各地的人士，包括世界上最富有的人，已经确定出席将于4月20日至22日举行的年度亚洲博鳌论坛（BFA）。 这次远远大于去年的850位参加者, 位于中国最南端的岛屿---海南省的一位外交官员刘瑾说。 他说超过200位来自世界各地的高级政府官员，包括最少40名部长级官员，已经确定将出席今年在博鳌---一个海南的热带滨海城市，是该会议永久的主办地---举行的论坛。 刘说，今年的活动将吸引超过600位商业精英包括最富有的人，微软董事长比尔.盖茨。 相比达沃斯论坛，以一个瑞士城市命名的世界经济论坛的起源地，博鳌论坛已经深得人心。 自亚洲博鳌论坛2001年成立以来，这将是最精彩的论坛, 博鳌论坛秘书长龙永图说。 龙说已经举办6届的博鳌论坛将为亚洲经济的可持续发展寻求“新方法、新思路”。他说：“我很高兴能在这里欢迎众多杰出人士”。 全国人民代表大会委员长吴邦国将在会上作专题讲演并会见各国的高级官员。　 今年的主题是“亚洲赢得今天的全球经济--创新与可持续发展。”讨论的内容包括一些重量级的课题如中东和南亚次大陆进入亚洲经济的整合，中国、印度和其他亚洲国家的平衡发展。讨论也涉及能量、资源、电信、金融服务、创新产业、企业社会责任和环境保护。 亚洲博鳌论坛云集了高级政府官员、商界领袖和亚洲事务的专家学者。