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)