[APWW-Meet] G8: Majority Favours An Exclusive Club

[Roberto Savio <soros@other-net.info>]

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G8: Majority Favours An Exclusive Club

By Ramesh Jaura

TOYAKO, Japan, Jul 8 (IPS) - The Group of Eight (G8) will remain an =
exclusive club of major industrial nations at least for a year. Whether =
the next year's summit in Italy will decide on its expansion -- to =
include Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa -- is an open =
question.

This emerged Tuesday on the second day of the G8 summit meetings in =
Toyako on the northern Japanese island Hokkaido.=20

A senior Japanese foreign ministry official said expansion of the G8 was =
not on the summit agenda. But "a summit participant" brought it up. A =
brief discussion revealed that the majority view was not to alter the =
present G8 format.=20

Among the reasons given was that the G8 is a grouping of nations that =
share some common values, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama told =
IPS. It was also argued that enlargement of the G8 will have an adverse =
effect on the quality of discussions.=20

Kodama declined to name the country that initiated the discussion on G8 =
expansion. But the proposal could have been tabled by French President =
Nicolas Sarkozy or British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The two are =
known to favour G8 enlargement.=20

The current structure reflects the global economic situation of the =
1970s, when French president Val=E9ry Giscard d'Estaing organised the =
first economic summit in 1975.=20

Six countries took part in that summit: France, West Germany, Italy, =
Japan, Britain and the United States. On the agenda were the =
international monetary disorder and the oil crisis. The leaders declared =
they were "determined to overcome high unemployment, continuing =
inflation and serious energy problems." Soaring energy prices are an =
important theme also of the current G8 summit in Japan.=20

While the majority of G8 members wish to remain an exclusive club, there =
is consensus that dialogue with some of the major non-G8 countries is of =
critical importance.=20

The Jul. 7-9 Hokkaido Toyako summit has the largest participation: 14 =
heads of state and government, the European Union Commission and the =
African Union Commission as well as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and =
World Bank president Robert Zoellick.=20

But enlargement is not considered the only alternative. A view taking =
the rounds is to do away with the G8 in its present format and go for =
theme-oriented rounds of discussions two to three days ahead of the UN =
General Assembly in September. Such 'summits' would be organised by =
different groups of states once a year or once in two years.=20

The debate about G8 expansion coincided with a discussion on the world =
economy. The document approved Tuesday indicates that though the G8 =
countries dominate the world economy, they are showing signs of =
nervousness at robust growth in emerging economies. "Emerging market =
economies are still growing strongly though our growth has moderated," =
the document says.=20

But at the same time, soaring commodity prices, says the document, =
especially of oil and food, pose a serious challenge to stable growth =
worldwide, have serious implications for the most vulnerable in the =
developing countries, and increase global inflationary pressure.=20

The G8 nations resolved to promote "a smooth adjustment of global =
imbalances through sound macroeconomic management and structural =
policies in our countries as well as emerging economies and oil =
producing countries."=20

An emerging, or developing, market economy (EME) is defined as an =
economy with low-to-middle per capita income. Such countries -- =
including Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa -- constitute =
approximately 80 percent of the global population, representing about 20 =
percent of the world's economy.=20

The G8 want the EMEs with large and growing current account surpluses to =
adjust their foreign exchange rates to those of the industrialised =
nations. In return they say they will attend to various political, =
economic and social challenges for extending globalisation's benefits to =
all. (END/2008)
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