G-15 ministers begin globalization talks

G-15 ministers begin globalization talks

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign ministers of the Group of 15 developing
nations began their meeting here on Monday to discuss the group's
strategies in facing globalization.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab said in his
opening speech that there were fears and doubts among developing
countries in facing globalization, with some concerned that they
would be unable to integrate their economies within the global
economy, while others are lagging far behind and suffering from
insufficient growth.

"The situation has become even more complicated with the
advent of the era of the knowledge-based economy, in which a
country can achieve a great leap forward with productivity gains
derived from the rapid advances in information and communication
technologies (ICTs)," Alwi said in his speech.

The knowledge-based economy presents significant opportunities
for both developed and developing countries to achieve higher
growth rates and raise living standards, the minister noted.

Reiterating a statement of Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri when opening the G-15 private sector meeting last
week, Alwi disclosed the bitter fact that 95 percent of the
world's population of six billion people live outside the
knowledge-based economy and are not in a position to enjoy its
benefits.

"And this is because people of the developing world lack the
education, infrastructure and institutional support necessary to
enable them to exploit this technology in the pursuit of
development," Alwi said.

Indonesia is still not in a position to reap the benefits of
ICTs and thus can not fully enjoy the benefits of a knowledge-
based economy due to the digital divide between its urban and
rural sectors.

Citing this country's experience, the minister disclosed that
there are only eight million telephone subscribers and 2.4
million Internet users in Indonesia.

"This is hardly a sufficient number, however, considering
Indonesia's population of some 220 million people," Alwi
lamented.

Alwi was only able to chair the opening ceremony of the
meeting before being summoned to Merdeka Palace by President
Abdurrahman Wahid. After later hosting a working luncheon with
the foreign ministers, Alwi again left the venue for undisclosed
reasons.

The session was then presided over by Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Director General of Foreign Economic Cooperation Makarim
Wibisono during Alwi's absence.

A total of 13 foreign ministers from the 19 G-15 member states
attended proceedings.

Separately, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said
globalization was irreversible and action needed to be taken to
bridge the digital divide between developing and developed
countries.

"Our meeting intends to see how we can take advantage of the
current globalization process and how developing countries can
take advantage of, share experiences and work together with
countries in the G-8 group of developed countries, Syed said on
the sidelines of the meeting.

The G-15 was established in 1989, originally comprising 15
member countries. When four new countries later joined the group,
leaders determined to maintain the G-15 name.

Its membership comprises Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya,
Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela
and Zimbabwe.

President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to open the two-day
summit on Wednesday. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
will be among the prominent heads of government who have
confirmed their presence. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and
Jamaican Prime Minister James Patterson have also announced their
participation. (prb)