A mixture of caution and pragmatism marked the opening of the eighth G-15 economic summit in the Egyptian capital yesterday.
The group, which brings together 16 of the developing world's economically strongest nations, began its three day meeting amid concern over the Asian crisis and criticism of what were described as the protectionist policies of the industrialised West.
Opening day speeches emphasised the need for south-south co-operation and north-south dialogue, combined with a cautious approach to economic liberalisation in an effort to overcome the Asian crisis and to prevent its repetition in other vulnerable developing economies.
"The crisis will pass," said President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in his opening speech. But he added that it had shown up both the possible social costs of global economic integration and how the "contagion effect of weakness" could spread between economies.
The meeting takes place in advance of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade minister's meeting in Geneva on May 18th and aims to create a unified voice to lobby for fairness to developing nations in any new WTO trade arrangements.
In the run-up to the summit, trade ministers from the group criticised what they called the "negative trade practices" of western nations, citing poor countries' limited access to European markets for textile products and the high subsidies on European agricultural products, among other discriminatory policies.
The G-15's members include: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka has also applied for membership.
