|
|
Change Your Life! |
Group of 77 to hold first summit of state heads |
|
News
|
April 9, 2000
HAVANA, APR 8 (AP) - Moammar Gadhafi of Libya and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are among at least 65 heads of state who will attend the first presidential summit held here next week by the Group of 77 developing nations, organizers announced Friday.
The presidents of Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia have confirmed their attendance. Kim Yong Nam, president North Korea's parliament and the country's ceremonial head of state, will come to Cuba for the summit and an official visit, the North's media reported.
About half of the heads of state will come from African nations that have friendly relations with communist Cuba, including Namibia, Zambia, Angola, and South Africa.
Among the main goals of the gathering known as the South Summit will be to promote relations among Third World nations, said Arthur Mbanefo, president of the G-77 and Nigeria's ambassador to the United Nations.
"We have not been able to talk with each other," Mbanefo said. He also said it is important for poor nations of the southern part of the globe to improve relations with richer nations located largely in the North, emphasizing another summit theme.
Speaking at a news conference in Havana, Mbanefo announced the attendance of Gadhafi and Arafat. He also said that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan would attend the summit.
High ranking government officials and the foreign ministers of the 133 nations that now belong to the G-77 will meet on Monday and Tuesday, and the heads of state and government will gather from Wednesday, April 12, through next Friday, April 14.
It is the first summit by heads of state and government that the G-77 has held since the organization was formed in 1963. Originally made up of 77 countries, it has nearly doubled in size over almost four decades, expanding as formerly colonized nations gained their independence.
Besides South-South and South-North cooperation, the delegates will also discuss the globalization of the world economy, as well as high technology in developing nations.
|