Education Forum for Asia
The
idea of developing the Education Forum for Asia was hatched in 2002.
The Chinese Scholarship Council and Boao Forum for Asia joined with
UNESCO to collaborate on developing a conference focused on international
education and the development of global talent and human resources
in the Asia region.
In cooperation with the
Chinese Ministry of Education, all three organizations worked to
further develop these ideas into the creation of an Education Forum.
Education Forum for Asia was initiated in December, 2003 by seven
initiators: H.E.Mr.Fidel V.Ramos, former President of the Philippines,
H.E.Mr.Sergey Terechshenko, former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan,
H.E.Mr.Lee Soo Sung, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea,
H.E.Mr.Kirti Nidhi Bista, Vice Chairman, Council of Ministers of
Nepal, H.E.Mrs. Jenny Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand,
Mr.Sheldon Shaeffer, Director of UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and pacific
Regional Bureau for Education, and H.E.Mr.Vitor Ng, Chairman of
the Macao Foundation, China. On the 5th and 6th, a Meeting of Initiators
for the Education Forum for Asia was held in Beijing. The Initiators
Meeting of the Education Forum for Asia was honored by the attendance
of 95 delegates from 19 countries and regions representing government
bodies, international organizations, multinational companies and
education institutions.
Through the successful
annual conference in the year of 2004, 2005 and 2006, Education
Forum for Asia has grown enormously in its influence both nationally
and regionally. The visions and images it always pursues are widely
acknowledged and accepted. China State Councilor Chen Zhili has
been giving great attention to the growth and evolution of Education
Forum for Asia since its creation. In her speech, she expressed
the Chinese government's commitment to maintaining friendly and
mutually beneficial relationships with its neighbors, while in creasing
cooperation with other Asia countries. Councilor Chen Zhili stressed
that education is a realm in which we must work closely together
so that we may all benefit. In order to best contribute to the creation
of a more peaceful and stable Asia, China remains committed to promoting
the healthy development of education.
In a word, Education
Forum for Asia aims at becoming a platform for inquiring into all
the problems in the development of Asian education, and we also
are fully supportive in the process of disseminating and achieving
the aims of education development, education decisions and new strategies
of international cooperation of education.
In the mere 4 years that
have passed since its creation, Education Forum for Asia has already
become a high-level platform for exchange, inquiry, and cooperation
among education officials, experts, and scholars in the Asia Pacific
region. In has laid a solid foundation for achieving its original
intention of "Building Bridges for Asian Education." Besides,
Education Forum for Asia is trying to inquire all kinds of problems
in the development of Asia regions and communities, and promote
the understanding among the countries by the exchange of culture
and academics. Through hard work and enthusiasm, it ventures to
improve the overall standard of Asian education, raise the quality
of Asian populations, and promote more prosperous and equitable
development in Asia. |