BOAO: Asian nations should take advantage of existing ties and boost economic partnerships, the top legislator said at the two-day annual meeting of Boao Forum for Asia, which closed yesterday.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said although Asia was still in the initial stages of economic integration, its countries and regions are eager to enhance cooperation.

A number of cooperation mechanisms have been set up and are functioning well, Wu said. They include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan and Republic of Korea, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the East Asia Summit.

Boao Forum was launched in 2001 to promote discussions of Asian issues. More than 1,400 government officials, corporate executives, researchers and media leaders from 36 countries and regions participated in this year's annual meeting, themed on innovation and sustainable development.

Wu said joint work in science and technology should figure prominently in Asia's regional cooperation. "We should expand partnership in science and technology to more areas and more sophisticated topics," he said.

Wu said Asian countries face a challenge to seek the right balance between industrialization and resource conservation and environmental protection.

He said it was impossible for these countries to pursue the traditional path of industrialization with massive consumption of resources and energy.

On the other hand, it will be unjust to discourage Asia's developing countries from pursuing industrialization and modernization or even to force them to give up their development ambitions on the grounds of resource and environmental constrains, he said.

"The right path should be a technology-driven one, a path that could lead to economic efficiency, low resource consumption and low pollution," Wu said.

Source: China Daily