A Strategic Planning Workshop & Board of Directors Working Meeting took place in Xi’an from October 9-10 held by the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), where Grouphorse provided simultaneous interpreting services as the official language service provider for the BFA, and received heartfelt praise from both the organizing committee and the international politicians in attendance.

The event mainly looked at BFA’s strategic development and the theme and overall design of the 2018 BFA Annual Meeting. It also included symposiums on the economic situation in Asia and worldwide, globalization, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), new economy, and new growth drivers, etc.

This September, we also offered such services at the BFA Paris Meeting, consisting of Chinese-French and French-English simultaneous interpreting though. 

BFA Chairman Fukuda gave his analysis of the economic situation in Japan at the meeting. He said that the Japanese economy is showing signs of improvement and gaining momentum, especially with regard to their low unemployment rate, a full labor market, and even an excessive labor supply. Their businesses are currently struggling to recruit employees with the right skills, creating a large gap between labor demand and labor supply. China is Japan’s largest economic neighbor, meaning that economic trends in China are incredibly influential over the Japanese economy. Japan pays close attention to major events in the Chinese political calendar, always in the hope that China’s economy will maintain its stable growth.

Various members of the BFA board were in attendance at the meeting, such as BFA Chairman and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda;  former Vice Prime Minister of Chinese State Council and BFA Vice Chairman Zeng Peiyan; former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz; former Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong;  former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jenny Shipley;  former Vice Prime Minister of Thailand Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai; and Executive Vice Governor of Hainan Province Mao Chaofeng. BFA Secretary-General and former Chinese Ambassador to the US, Zhou Wenzhong, delivered a work report.

Over 70 representatives of BFA members, partners, and a number of Shaanxi Province companies, attended the meeting. Eminent scholars such as Fan Gang, Director of China’s National Economic Research Institute, and Professor Bai Chongen, Executive Associate Dean of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, gave a comprehensive analysis of the current economic landscapes within China, within Asia, and around the world.

To keep up with globalization, Grouphorse has set up a premier language service platform: the Global Center for Translation and Interpreting (GTCI), to further guarantee the high efficiency and first-class quality of our translation services for each of our multinational clients, as well as to contribute to the BRI.