Vincent Siew, a former premier of Taiwan, made the announcement at the opening ceremony for the 2007 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), being held in the coastal town of Boao in China’s southernmost province of Hainan. Siew is attending the April 20-21 regional economic event in his capacity as head of a group of Taiwanese entrepreneurs.

Siew told CNA he had first come into contact with the renowned banker and economist from Bangladesh ahead of the opening ceremony. During the brief meeting, he invited Yunus to visit Taiwan, he said.

Siew said he recognized Yunus’ efforts in assisting millions of people climb out of poverty through a “microcredit” program of offering loans to people who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. He adding that Yunus’ efforts have been a great inspiration to people in Taiwan.

Yunus, who is also the founder of the Grameen Bank, drew the attention of all the participants in the forum. He and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”

The BFA is a non-governmental, non-profit international organization modeled after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Driven by China, it was founded by 26 Australasian states on Feb. 27, 2001, and held its first annual meeting in April 2002.

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