President Mahinda Rajapaksa will address the 2008 Annual Conference of the Boao Forum for Asia later this week, when the Sri Lankan perspective on the theme of this year’s conference which is meeting the challenges and opportunities influencing the region's environmental future.

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) was inaugurated in February 2001. The Annual Conference of Boao is a platform for political leaders, academics, business leaders from Asia and other countries concerned with the development of Asia to communicate and seek cooperation and common development of all Asian countries.

Now in its eighth year, the BFA Annual Conference has become the pre-eminent international economic forum in Asia, hosting over one thousand high profile national leaders, economists, academics, business leaders and other pacesetters from across the globe.

The Boao Conference this year will offer participants a chance to discuss the challenges and opportunities influencing the region's environmental future. Over the three days of the 2008 Annual Conference participants will debate the move towards energy efficiency, how to secure Asia's future through renewable energy sources, and how the private sector can contribute to improving the environment.

International observers arriving for the conference are of the view that this is a vitally important time for a discussion of Asia's environmental future, and that the conference this year will include many global thought leaders to address this crucial issue. They expect that through this collaborative effort there can be new alliances forged and common approaches developed that will have a strong and lasting impact right throughout the Asian region.
The BFA 2008 has added significance this year China marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the Reform and Opening Up Policy, a major milestone in China's history, and one that set the country on the course to its current economic success, led by the Chinese leader Deng Xiao Ping, and is also the year when the Olympic Games is to be held here later this year.

Commenting on the importance of the anniversary for China, Mr. Long Yongtu, Secretary General of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) noted: "So much has changed in the years since China opened its economy to the world. As such, this year's Annual Conference will offer leaders from business, government and academia an opportunity to reflect on how far China has come over the last thirty years, as well as a chance to prepare for the many formidable changes and challenges that will face China - and the entire Asian region - over the next three decades."

The list of corporate global corporate giants involved with this year's conference reflects the rising influence globally and importance of the BFA organization and its annual event. These include some who have been supporting BFA for long such as Merrill Lynch, Deloitte, Lenovo, New Fortune, while some are newcomers such as Volvo, Evonik Industries AG and PMI.

Dr. Yu Dahai, President, Greater China Region of Evonik Industries AG, has said that “over the past seven years, we've seen the Boao Annual Conference develop into one of the key events in Asia's corporate calendar, an occasion for discussion and debate between luminaries from every sector of society, and decisions that will influence the future of the entire region. We are very pleased to be a part of that and proud to be able to lend our support to the 2008 Annual Conference."

This year also sees the BFA extending its media reach, with Bloomberg, Fortune Times, BBC World, and Time coming to strategic partnerships with BFA.