Fortune Global Forum ends in Hong Kong
( 2001-05-10 20:59 ) (8 )

The three-day Fortune Global Forum 2001 concluded in Hong Kong Thursday afternoon after fruitful discussions among heads of the world's leading multinationals on the theme of Next Generation Asia.

More than 700 representatives, including chairmen, presidents and chief executive officers from over 200 multinationals and 150 Hong Kong companies, as well as heads of over 60 mainland enterprises and 20-odd Chinese ministers and provincial governors, attended the seventh Fortune Global Forum sponsored by the Fortune magazine.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who flew by special plane from Beijing to Hong Kong, delivered a keynote speech at the dinner for the opening of the forum, making a brilliant exposition of Asia's economic vitality, China's development prospect and the "one country, two systems" principles the Chinese government has been carrying out unswervingly since Hong Kong's return four years ago.

During his stay in Hong Kong, Jiang met separately with members of the board of directors of AOL Time Warner Inc., a group of world-known entrepreneurs, representatives from Hong Kong's business community, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and former US president Bill Clinton.

The participants held extensive discussions on such topics as " Where Asia Has the Edge," "Corporate Governance in Asia," "New Technologies Defining Business and Beyond," "Technology in Post- WTO China," "The Reality of Post-WTO Business in China," "Next General China: the Emerging Western Region," and "Next Generation Leaders Look Ahead."

Thai prime minister and Clinton also made keynote addresses at the forum. The other speakers included heads of Microsoft, Dell, Yahoo, Toshiba and other big-name companies, China's top planner Zeng Peiyan and central bank governor Dai Xianglong, as well as Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and other principal SAR government officials.