The General Meeting of Members of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) elected the new Board of Directors on the morning of April 9. At the ensuing first meeting of the Board, Mr. BAN Ki-moon, the 8th Secretary General of the United Nations, was elected Chairman of the Board.

Mr. ZHOU Xiaochuan, Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of CPPCC and Former Governor, People’s Bank of China, replaced Mr. Zeng Peiyan as the Chief Representative of China to the Boao Forum for Asia. According to the BFA Charter, the Chief Representative of China is the ex-officio member and the Vice Chairman of the Board.

At the meeting of the Board, Mr. LI Baodong, a vice minister of foreign affairs, China, was appointed Secretary General. According to the BFA Charter, the Secretary General is the ex-officio member of the Board.

The New Board of Directors consists of 19 members, of which 12 are newly elected members, including Mr. BAN Ki-moon, Mr. ZHOU Xiaochuan and Mr. LI Baodong, and 7 members from the previous Board, including Mr. Yousef Abdullah AL-BENYAN, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SABIC; Mr. Shaukat AZIZ, former Prime Minister of Pakistan; Mr. MAO Chaofeng, Executive Vice Governor of Hainan Province; Dame Jenny SHIPLEY, Former Prime Minister, New Zealand; Mr. Surakiart SATHIRATHAI, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Thailand; Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, former President of Indonesia; Mr. Ratan N. TATA, Chairman Emeritus, Tata & Sons.

The 12 newly elected members are political and business leaders from Asia and the world, including Gloria Macapagal ARROYO, Former President, the Philippines; Carlos GUTIERREZ, Former Secretary of Commerce, USA; Yasumi KUDO, Chairman of the Board, NYK Group; Oh-Hyun KWON, Chairman of Samsung Electronics; Vincent LO Hong-Shui, Chairman, Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Hiroaki NAKANISHI, Chairman of the Board, Hitachi Ltd; Romano PRODI, Former President of the European Commission and Former Prime Minister of Italy; WONG Kan Seng, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Chairman of Ascendas-Singbridge Pte Ltd; Viktor ZUBKOV, Former Prime Minister of Russia and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom.

According to the Resolution of the New Board of Directors, 11 outgoing members of the previous Board are invited to the Council of Advisors, including former Chairman Yasuo FUKUDA; former Vice Chairman ZENG Peiyan; Mr. ZHOU Wenzhong, Former Secretary-General, Boao Forum for Asia; Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad BADAWI, Former Prime Minister of Malaysia; Dr. Victor FUNG, Group Chairman of the Fung Group; Mr GOH Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister, Singapore; Mr. Leif JOHANSSON, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ericsson and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Astra Zeneca PLC; Mr. Sergey KATYRIN, President of the CCI, Russia; Mr. Henry PAULSON, former Treasury Secretary, USA; Mr. Jean-Pierre RAFFARIN, Former Prime Minister, France; Mr. Mikio SASAKI, Senior Corporate Advisor of Mitsubishi Corporation.

Also invited to the Council of Advisors are Mme. Margaret CHAN Fung Fu-chun, Director General Emeritus of World Health Organization; Mr. CHEY Tae-won, Chairman of the SK Corporation; Mr. Henri GISCARD D’ESTAING, President of Club Med SAS.

The New Council of Advisors now consists of 17 members, including three members from the previous Council – Mr. Andrew FORREST, Chairman, FMG; Mr. JIANG Sixian, Chairman of the University Council of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Mr. XU Lirong, Chairman of the Board, China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited. At the first meeting of the New Council, Mr. Yasuo FUKUDA was elected Chairman and Mr. ZENG Peiyan was elected Vice Chairman.

According to the Resolution of the General Meeting of Members, 8 outgoing members of the previous Council of Advisors were honored with the title of BFA Honorary Member in recognition of their outstanding and substantive contributions to the Forum since its inception, including Mr. Fidel RAMOS, former President of the Philippines; Mr. Ian FOK Chun Wan, Governor of Fok Ying Tung Foundation Limited; Mr. Bob HAWKE, former Prime Minister of Australia; Mr. JIANG Xiaosong, Chairman, Hainan Grand Lecheng Development Holdings Co., Ltd; Mr. LONG Yongtu, Former Vice Minister of MOFTEC; Mr. Sergey TERECHSHENKO, Former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan; Mr. Koji MIYAHARA, Former Chairman and Board Counselor of NYK Line; Mr. Michael TRESCHOW, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Wallenberg Foundations AB.