G15 ministers debate low attendance

G15 ministers debate low attendance

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): The foreign ministers of the Group of 15 (G-15) developing nations gathered yesterday ahead of a summit meeting amid concern over low attendance and lack of influence over rich countries.

The ministers were to take up a paper exploring whether G-15 leaders should meet less often and the developing nations should seek closer ties with the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations.

"Attendance by G-15 heads of state/government at past summits has tended to be low and concentrated around a few countries," the paper said.

It said G-15 countries were divided over whether to hold summits every two years instead of every year. The 1994 summit in New Delhi had to be canceled due to a lack of a quorum.

Eight heads of state or government including the host, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, were expected to attend the three-day summit starting on Monday. Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral canceled his appearance after being criticized for taking too many trips abroad.

Those favoring biannual summits, including Indonesia, said the large number of other summits made attendance at G-15 meetings difficult.

But other countries said that "for the G-15 to be credible and respond appropriately to rapidly-evolving international issues, it is necessary for summits to be held every year", the paper said.

The G-15 groups Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Kenya will be admitted into the group next week.

The paper discussed taking in new members but recommended "the G-15 should first consolidate and reinforce itself before embarking on expansion", saying expansion could make coordination even more difficult.

The document said the G-15 lacked a coherent strategy for dialog with the G-7 group of industrialized nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

"Past attempts by the G-15 to engage the G-7 in dialogue...have only received a modest response," it said.

The paper suggested a high-level meeting between G-15 and G-7 ministers on specific issues of concern to countries in both groups.

It said many G-15 projects were progressing rather slowly, mainly due to problems of funding, information and coordination. In a bid to increase economic cooperation, the group held its first meeting of trade and economic ministers on Friday.

The meeting discussed ways of increasing trade and investment and participation by the private sector.

"They agreed that G-15 cooperation should focus mainly on areas such as trade and investment facilitation and technical cooperation," a statement by Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said.