Leaders vow to make globalisation work for all

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, JULY 22. The leaders of the world's richest nations concluded their meeting on Saturday night and have set their intention in a statement, highlighting their determination to make globalisation work for everyone, including the poorest countries.

The Group of Eight summit has been overshadowed by violent anti- capitalist protests, and one protester was killed by the Italian police. The G-8 leaders have resolved to meet again next year in a ``remote part'' of Canada and have agreed to substantially cut down on the size of their delegations. At the current summit in the Italian port city of Genoa, each leader was accompanied by ``hundreds'' of aides and advisers. At their next meeting in Canada each leader may not bring more than 30 to 40 delegates.

The leaders said they would seek ``enhanced cooperation and solidarity with developing countries, based on a mutual responsibility for combating poverty and promoting sustainable development''. The G-8 leaders also pledged to look for ways to broaden debt relief for the world's poorest countries. The statement also endorsed the launch of an ``ambitious'' new round of global trade talks, but conceded that the leaders have not been able to narrow the differences between the U.S. and other industrialised nations over global warming. The U.S. continues to remain the ``odd man out'' at the current dialogue on global warming in Italy and Germany, although according to some officials, a consensus of sorts is seen emerging on the strategy of containing global warming.

The U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, has attracted much criticism and controversy. He surprised and even angered other nations, particularly those in Europe, when he announced that the U.S. would not implement the Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emission. The fury of the European protesters and demonstrator at Genoa and Bonn was more directed at Mr. Bush than any other world leader.

The G-8 final statement did not include any reference to Mr. Bush's controversial proposal to build a National Defence System.

The summit has also endeavoured to produce broad agreement on major economic and foreign policy issues such as the growing divide between Arabs and Jews in West Asia and escalating ethnic violence, Korean peninsula and security and political crises in Macedonia. The statement emphasised world leaders' commitment to a new global fund to fight AIDS, TB, malaria and other infectious diseases in developing countries.

The leaders also endorsed moves by Western drug manufacturers to make medicines more affordable through flexibility and patent protection.

The Group of Eight leaders - the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Britain, Canada and Russia - also expressed frustration over their failure to focus attention on the key issues they came to discuss. The British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, said the summit made progress, despite violence and argued that protesters may have seized the media headlines but the summit had done much to help the world's poor. ``Africa, not anarchy was our focus in Genoa. We took decisions on Third World aid, climate change, world trade and global financial system,'' Mr. Blair said. ``Legitimate, peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy.''

He said 23 out of 41 countries have qualified for debt write-off worth more than $ 50,000 millions. The host of the summit, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, said there was room for improvement in the mechanism of aid deployment. He promised that leaders of the rich countries would ensure that the benefits of the aid filtered down to poorer people and to ensure that corrupt leaders and officials did not become beneficiaries of the aid. Mr Blair said those protesting against globalisation were entitled to their views, but in truth global trade and opening up the world economy were ``not the obstacles to, but the means of, advancing the interests of the poorest countries. Protectionism is their enemy.'' Earlier, Mr. Bush echoed the same sentiments.

Sections of the Western media today regretted the reality that one more summit of world leaders had been disrupted by violent protests, highlighted by the death of an Italian anarchist. The scale of violence at such international gathering has been escalating for some time.

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Section  : International
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