Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized countries issued a statement today at the conclusion of their two-day meeting in Miyazaki, Japan. In their statement, ministers reaffirmed their commitment to promote conflict prevention, fight all forms of terrorism and reform the United Nations.

In an effort to prevent conflict around the world, the G-8 foreign ministers endorsed measures to deal with the illegal transfer of small arms and light weapons and the illicit trade in diamonds. In addition, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to international disarmament and nonproliferation regimes and indicated their support for the START II and START III nuclear reduction treaties.

The foreign ministers also reiterated their commitment to reforming and strengthening the United Nations and its peacekeeping operations, saying such activities are playing a crucial role in maintaining global peace and stability (Agence France-Presse, 13 Jul).

Representatives Promise Support For East Timor

The G-8 foreign ministers also said they would fully support Indonesia's reforms and East Timor's nation-building process, commending the assistance that has been provided to East Timor by the United Nations. Underlining a "firm commitment" to the people of East Timor, the ministers encouraged other countries to join in reconstruction efforts (AFP II, 13 Jul).

Developing Countries Praise Declaration

On Wednesday, developing countries reached a surprise agreement with the G-8 on the need for debt relief, aid and fighting disease. "We were pleasantly surprised at the convergence of views from both sides," said South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-zuma. "There seems to be emerging a very clear agenda and consensus around issues that we can build a strategic partnership on" (AFP III, 13 Jul).

Annan Urges Accelerated Debt Relief, IT Access

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday called on the world's richest countries to speed up debt relief for poor countries and to bridge the "digital divide" limiting access to information technology throughout much of the developing world.

In a letter to participants in the upcoming G-8 summit in Okinawa, Annan cited the the failure of previous debt relief mechanisms and suggested the G-8 cancel the debts of all highly indebted countries in return for a "demonstrable commitment" to poverty reduction by those governments (UN Newservice, 11 Jul).

Annan's letter was sent to the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan, known as the G-7. Russia is the additional member of the G-8 (Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service/TerraViva, 11 Jul).

Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he wanted his country to play a "full role" in the upcoming G-8 summit. "Russia does not want to stand on the sidelines of these opportunities," he said. "We intend to take part in the work of the club." Putin noted a shift in the G-8 from finance to broader political issues (Reuters/MSNBC.com, 11 Jul).

Last year's vow by US President Bill Clinton and the other G-7 leaders to write off $50 billion in debt owed by deserving poor nations is in danger of collapse because the US Congress has refused to pay the American share of the tab. Trying to force changes in International Monetary Fund lending procedures, Republican lawmakers have slashed Clinton's $435 million proposed debt-relief contribution to somewhere between $69 and $75 million. As a result, IMF assistance is being held up for several countries who qualify for debt alleviation (Michael Phillips, Wall Street Journal, 10 Jul).

"We all recognize that there are no simple solutions to the debt problems," Annan said, noting that without any new initiatives, "we will remain trapped in the current impasse." In Africa, 40% of all government revenues are currently spent servicing a total debt of $350 billion -- "to the detriment of health, education and other essential social services," he added (Deen, Inter Press Service/TerraViva).

Annan also repeated his call for the G-8 to commit themselves to improving access to information technologies. "Countries in which most people do not have access to IT cannot play a full part in the new global economy," Annan said, requesting global leadership in this area (UN Newservice, 12 Jul).

However, in an International Herald Tribunecommentary , Manzoor Ahmed, UNICEF's country director for Japan, cautioned the G-8 leaders not to view information technology as the "magic bullet" to reduce the growing gap between rich and poor. IT can have little effect in developing countries where half of all people have never used a telephone, unless the approach is linked to a broader strategy of poverty reduction which addresses education, health and gender equality, he said (Manzoor Ahmed, International Herald Tribune, 11 Jul).

ICC Calls For Summit To Push Trade Talks

The International Chamber of Commerce is pressing the G-7 countries to take the lead on further trade liberalization and a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization.

In a statement delivered to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the ICC said it is "gravely concerned" at the "large number of high-profile trade disputes among members of the G-7 that are currently being allowed to sour international trade relations further and that are weakening the authority and effectiveness of the WTO and its disputes settlement system."

The 7,000-member organization proposed an ambitious agenda for a future round of trade talks that includes further protecting foreign investment, expanding of rules on trade in services, speeding up reduction of agricultural trade barriers and better integrating least-developed countries into the multilateral trading system. It also seeks to make permanent the moratorium on electronic commerce customs duties, limit the use of antidumping measures, simplify customs procedures and begin liberalizing maritime and air transport and postal and express delivery services (ICC release, 10 Jul).

The ICC also called on the G-8 to adopt a common approach to health and safety standards so as to encourage the spread of new technologies in agriculture, biotechnology and life sciences, it said (ICC release, 10 Jul).

Japan Looks To Include NGOs At Summit

Hoping to avoid a repeat of the violence that broke out at last year's WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle, Japanese officials last week met with some 50 nongovernmental organizations to find ways to work together at the summit in Okinawa on 21 - 23 July.

The Japanese government said it hopes to make the summit a "starting point" for working with NGOs, whose cooperation and expertise is needed in combating disease and other problems in the developing world, by proposing the creation of a fund for NGOs working on infectious diseases (NHK Newswatch, 10 Jul).

The Financial Times in an editorial this week called on G-8 members to focus on difficult financial issues such as debt relief, involvement of the private sector in crisis resolution and internal reform of the IMF.

Changes in lending policy at the IMF were announced last weekend by the G-7 finance ministers. This includes a higher price for middle-income countries to borrow, which the Financial Times calls "sensible" since "there is little reason why the IMF should provide long-term subsidized finance for countries that can, in most circumstances, easily access international capital markets."

The editorial also calls for further steps to attract countries to a credit line scheme launched last year to help out in times of crisis which so far has no applicants. Countries are concerned that application will be seen as a sign that they are expected economic trouble, so a large number of countries may need to apply together. The conditionality of the scheme -- that countries could be thrown out for not meeting conditions and then suffer a loss in investor confidence -- should also be addressed, it said (Financial Times, 11 Jul).