MANILA—House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead the first Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in Manila to be held Monday and Tuesday, April 22 and 23.

Themed "Concerted Action for Common Development in the New Era," the forum is set to host 300 Filipino and Chinese business leaders to explore investment opportunities in the two nations.

President Rodrigo Duterte and forum secretary-general Li Badong will deliver the keynote speeches at the event, which will be held at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

The BFA is currently being chaired by former UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon of South Korea, with Arroyo sitting as board member.

The forum will be held in cooperation with the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc., and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines.

It is named after the Chinese town of Boao in China's Hainan province, and is often compared to the World Economic Forum's own annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.