Full Video: Boao Forum for Asia annual meeting 2009 opens

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Asia is seen as the engine to drive forward the world economy, as emerging economies here have been growing fast in the past decades.

But that engine slowed as the financial crisis started taking a heavy toll in the region.

Sluggish exports, shrinking investment and demand, fewer jobs and lower income plague many emerging economies.

The Asian Development Bank predicts the average growth in Asia would slow almost by half to 3.4 percent in 2009, the worst decline since 1998.

When addressing the opening cession, Premier Wen Jiabao said emerging economies in the region should deal with the situation hand-in-hand.

His suggestions include closer economic and investment cooperation, as well as opposing trade protectionism.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gives a keynote speech at the opening plenary of Boao Forum  for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2009 in  Boao, a scenic town in south China's Hainan Province, April 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Wen Jiabao said, "To counter the financial crisis, Asia countries should not only each run their own affairs well, but also step up cooperation and pull together like passengers in the same boat to promote win-win development and make Asia a key engine in regaining world economic growth."