The 2019 Boao Forum for Asia wrapped up last week in China's Hainan province. The forum took place at a time when globalization is under threat on multiple fronts. What is the significance of discussing Asian integration at this historical juncture? And what should be done to facilitate such integration?

Liu Zhenmin, UN Undersecretary-General for economic and social affairs shared his views by saying that Asian cooperation should be advanced with the ASEAN at the center.

One of the reasons he pointed out was that countries in the region are immensely diverse as they are made up of developed countries such as Japan, the world's second-biggest economy China, other big nations like India and Russia as well as a various middle and small-sized economies; in the meantime, the U.S. exerts a big influence in the region.

“Thus, it is important to ensure ASEAN centrality so as to avoid competition or confrontations between big powers (that comes at the expense of smaller nations),” he said.

In terms of East Asia, Liu recognized the enormous progress of social and economic development that has been made. However, he also indicated that there still exists much potential and challenges on the issue of regional security.

As vast areas of Asia are developing countries, it is important for them to incorporate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (ASD) into their national development goals so as to ensure healthy and sustainable economic growth.

As a representative from the UN, Liu has expertise in the implementation of the ASD in the region and said that Asia has made tremendous progress in quality education. He also pointed to the competitiveness of Asian students studying abroad as good evidence.

He also said that “eradication of poverty” is another area that Asia is currently making strides in, especially in the East Asian region including China.

However, challenges do remain. Liu believes currently the gravest one is how to maintain the momentum for global economic growth. Against this backdrop, he said that it is important for Asian countries to also find ways to cope with economic downward pressure.

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