BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Over 200 people from the Asian energy circle will gather in Tehran, capital of Iran, in July to discuss issues on Asian's energy situation, sustained development, environment and regional cooperation.

    Long Yongtu, secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), told a press conference in Beijing Thursday that the Boao Energy Forum for Asia, jointly hosted by the BFA and the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be held in Tehran between July 17 to 19, which will be the first time for the BFA to host an international conference outside China.

    With the theme "Asian Energy Cooperation and Development", the forum will attract over 200 people from the Asian energy circle, including governmental officials, regional organizations, experts, scholars and enterprises.

    Fu Chengyu, president of the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), will head a 50-member Chinese delegation to attend the forum.

    Long said with the fast economic growth in Asia in recent years, all Asian countries increased their demand for energy, especially petroleum and natural gas, which has aroused close concerns of world countries.

    During the third foreign ministers' meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, 22 Asian foreign ministers or their representatives said in the Qingdao Initiative that energy security has become an issue facing by the whole international community, and it can only be attained through candid dialogue andmutually beneficial cooperation.

    Long said he believes that the opening of the Boao Energy Forumfor Asia will help realize the goal of the Qingdao Initiative, andstrengthen exchanges and dialogue among Asian countries in energy supply and demand.

    Iranian Ambassador to China Ferydoun Verdi Nejad said that as the second largest petroleum-exporting country of the Organizationof Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iran is rich in petroleumand natural gas resources, and is willing to strengthen cooperation with other Asian countries through information exchanges and dialogues.

    It is expected that in the first 30 years of the 21st century, Asia's demand for energy will increase eight to ten percent. In recent years, the rising oil price and unstable situation in the Middle East have made the Asian countries realize that only strengthening energy cooperation can help realize a stable and win-win Asia.

    The BFA, which began in Boao, in China's southernmost Hainan island province, in 2001, is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization. Enditem