G-15 summit to look at the year 2000 and beyond

G-15 summit to look at the year 2000 and beyond

By Meidyatama Soeryodiningrat

BUENOS AIRES (JP): Leaders of the Group of 15 (G-15) developing countries will gather here on Monday for the start of their fifth summit, to hammer out a declaration on international economic cooperation for the year 2000 and beyond.

Argentine officials said that at least 10 of the 15 members will be represented by their leaders, an improvement over the last summit in New Delhi, in which only six leaders attended.

But this time President Soeharto will be one of the absentees. The 73-year old Indonesian leader, considered to be one of the most senior statesmen in the group, has attended all previous four G-15 summits.

Indonesian embassy officials said the Indonesian delegation will be led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Alatas. He will be accompanied by President Soeharto's personal representative to the G-15, Agus Tarmidzi, who is Indonesia's ambassador to the permanent mission of the United Nations in Geneva.

Officials in Jakarta said that a tight schedule has prevented Soeharto from attending the summit here. He has just completed an 18-day overseas trip, which included the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Cartagena, Colombia, the United Nations' 50th anniversary commemorative assembly, short working visits to Washington and Suriname, plus a minor pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He also made a brief stopover in Abu Dhabi.

Later this month, the President is scheduled to attend the leadership meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Osaka, Japan.

Indonesian and Argentine officials said that, as a forum for consultation between countries of the southern hemisphere, the G- 15 leaders, or their representatives, are expected to highlight the plight of the developing world, especially the global climate which has hindered, rather than induced, development.

The group will put together a declaration of their views to foster international economic cooperation, both North-South and South-South, for the next century.

It will also review the 18 projects of cooperation that exist between G-15 members.

Indonesia is coordinator of four of these projects, which cover the food sector, population and family planning, external debt and the promotion of self-propelling growth schemes.

Proposals such as the creation of an investment, trade and technology council, which was put forward by India at last year's summit, are also likely to materialize here next week.

In addition, delegates have indicated that leaders will discuss terrorism and corruption, as proposed by India and Venezuela respectively.

The G-15 was established in 1989, during the 9th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Belgrade, as the Summit Level Group on South-South Cooperation and Consultation.

Its members represent the various regions of the developing world: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe for Africa; India, Indonesia and Malaysia for Asia; Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela for Latin America; and the Caribbean. Yugoslavia, one of the founding members, has been replaced by Chile.

Idea

The idea was to create a consultative forum for leaders to review and analyze the international situation, forge better cooperation and try to create a dialog with the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized countries.

The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur in 1990 and subsequent meetings have been hosted in Caracas, Dakar and New Delhi.

At this summit, observers say, the G-15 must grapple with internal matters such as new membership and maintaining high attendance levels at future meetings.

Argentine officials have suggested expanding the membership, but exactly who should be brought in is still a point of debate.

In the past, Iran has indicated a desire to join and there are even hopes that China will become a member.

Although the summit focus is on the global political and economic situation, the G-15 will also discuss how to forge closer economic ties among its members.

Trade between developing countries is seen as a way of solidifying and enhancing overall south-south cooperation.

Argentina's Undersecretary for International Economic Negotiations, Alfredo Chiaradia, has stressed the importance of a business exhibition that is to be held alongside the G-15 Summit, as well as offshoot meetings.

He told journalists that Argentina hopes the G-15 will develop into a group of "new tigers" in a changing world economy.

Over 300 entrepreneurs from G-15 member states are expected to attend the business exhibition and seminar, which will be held at the Palais de Glaces building, just two blocks from the site of the summit.

The absence of President Soeharto appears to have stifled the interest of the Indonesian business community. Only three Indonesians have registered to attend the business forum, embassy officials said.