On the morning of January 24, 2003, President Jiang Zemin met with Fidel Ramos, former President of the Philippines and now Chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) and some of its major directors at Zhongnanhai.

Jiang extended welcome to Ramos and his entourage.

Jiang recalled that he personally attended the inauguration of the forum on behalf of the Chinese government in February 2001 and Premier Zhu Rongji attended its first annual conference last year, noting that both meetings were very successful. He described the theme of this year's annual conference "Asia seeking mutual development through cooperation" as very good, voicing the hope that preparatory work will be well done and this year's conference will be a complete success.

Jiang said that the Chinese government will, as always, support and provide facility to BFA. He noted that the Hainan Provincial Government had greatly improved the infrastructure to create a better environment for the forum.

Last but not least, Jiang expressed his belief that the directors and the newly-appointed general secretary will work together to make the forum a success. So much so that it will become a very active international forum in Asia.

Jiang said the forum provides a new stage of dialog and cooperation for all Asian countries, and complements cooperation between governments. The forum, which has attracted the participation of many other countries outside Asia, will help promote exchanges and cooperation between Asia and the other parts of the world.

Ramos and other members of the board said the forum has played an important role in increasing regional development and exchanges, and is a very good channel for promoting cooperation in Asia. They said that all members of the forum should work together for economic development and the improvement of understanding and cooperation in Asia. They also thanked President Jiang and the Chinese government for their assistance to the forum during its inauguration and development.