Indonesia to join G-20, attends planning meeting

Indonesia to join G-20, attends planning meeting

VANCOUVER (Reuters): Indonesia has been invited to join the newly-formed "Group of 20" economic forum now that it has held democratic elections and relinquished control of East Timor, a Canadian official said on Wednesday.

Indonesian officials joined deputy finance ministers of the other member nations in Vancouver on Wednesday in the first agenda-planning meeting of the forum to open economic dialogue between industrialized and developing nations, officials said.

The so-called G-20 was formally created at the autumn meetings in Washington of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, but member nations had balked at including Indonesia because of the events in East Timor.

"During the last two months much as changed for the better (in Indonesia)," said Jean-Michel Catta, spokesman for Canada's Finance Ministry.

Catta cited last month's democratic elections in Indonesia, and the approval by lawmakers in Jakarta of independence for East Timor.

The G-20 includes the members of the G7, United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada, plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. The European Union and a representative of the IMF are also included.

Canada will chair the group for two years.

The group's deputy finance ministers and deputy-level bank officials gathered in Vancouver on Wednesday to plan the agenda for the inaugural formal meeting of the organization, scheduled for December 16, in Berlin.

Officials refused to elaborate on what issues were discussed in the closed-door Vancouver gathering, or on what would be included on the agenda for the finance ministers when they gather in Berlin.

The G-20 was created in part in response to the Asian economic crisis, and a desire by the G7's members for the leading emerging economies to take greater responsibility for ensuring stability in their financial systems and markets.

Indonesia is the world's 15th largest economy in terms of gross domestic product and is "clearly within the mandate" of the G-20, Catta said.

A Canadian official outside the Vancouver gathering said the group would likely keep the G-20 name even if it has 21 members.