More than 1,300 people from around the world, include the richest man in the world, have confirmed they will attend the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), to be held from April 20 to 22, a government official in the host province said Sunday.

"This far outnumbers last year's 850 participants," said Liu Jin, a foreign affairs official in China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

He said more than 200 senior government officials from around the world, including at least 40 ministerial-level officials, have confirmed they'll participate in this year's forum at Boao, a tropical seaside town in Hainan, which is the permanent home of the conference.

This year's event will also draw more than 600 business elites including the wealthiest, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, said Liu.

The reputation of the Boao Forum has been favorably compared to the Davos Forum, named after a Swiss town, where the World Economic Forum originated.

"It's going to be the most exciting forum since the BFA was founded in 2001," said Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the BFA.

Long said the six-year-old BFA will be looking to the participants for "new approaches and new ideas" for sustainable economic development in Asia. "I'm very happy to be welcoming so many distinguished guests here," he said.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will give a keynote speech at the conference and will meet senior officials from other countries.

This year's theme is "Asia winning in today's global economy -- innovation and sustainable development". Discussions will include such heavy-weight topics as the integration of the Middle East and South Asia subcontinent into the Asian economy, and the balanced development of China, India and other Asian nations. There will also be workshops on energy, resources, telecommunications, financial services, innovative industries, corporate social responsibilities and environmental protection.

The BFA Annual Conference gathers together senior government

officials, business executives and leading academics who are specialists in Asian affairs.

Source: Xinhua