TAIPEI, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Chen Yen-yow, who works for a futures trading firm in Taipei, is packing more than just a change of clothes to attend a forum across the Taiwan Strait.

He will also be taking a raft of questions to ask at the second Straits Forum, which opens Saturday in Xiamen.

Chen, a twenty-something, has been invited to attend a gathering of Chinese mainland and Taiwan youth, one of the events at the forum.

"I want to take part in discussions about economic and trade issues. I want to know more about the mainland's latest preferential policies towards Taiwan business," said Chen before boarding his flight on Friday.

"I hope to talk with people from various backgrounds and maybe I can get some inspiration for developing my own career," he said.

More than 10,000 Taiwan people are to attend the forum from June 19 to 25, and 80 percent of them are members of the public from Taiwan's trade unions, women, youth, culture, sport, business and farmers organizations.

"For business, Taiwan and the mainland each have advantages. We need more opportunities to sit down and discuss how to work together," Chen said.