After last year's fiasco in Genoa, the upcoming G8 Summit will be held in a remote Canadian resort. Gamal Zayda from Montreal examines its agenda The G8 Summit, due to be held in Canada on 26 and 27 June, will take place at the Kananaskis resort. The remote location, at the southwest tip of the Alberta province, is 100 km from Calgary, the closest major population centre, and surrounded by forests. The main reason for choosing such an inaccessible place to hold the high-profile international summit is a desire to minimise the possibility that anti- globalisation demonstrations -- such as the ones currently being held in Ottawa -- will disrupt proceedings. The disaffected demonstrators -- who brought previous meetings to a grinding halt as they fought dramatic street battles with police in Genoa and Seattle -- allege that the economic and financial policies adopted by the world's industrial countries are destroying the economies of poorer, less developed nations by restricting their potential and unfairly exploiting their natural resources. Despite the G8 meeting's formal schedule showing little focus on the Middle East, there has been speculation that heads of state are waiting to hear the widely expected US policy statement before committing themselves to further discussions on the subject. Foreign ministers of G8 member-states held a meeting in Canada on 12 June that aimed at hammering out a strategy to convince the Israelis and the Palestinians to return to negotiations, possibly at a Middle East peace conference to be held later this summer in Turkey. The upcoming G8 Summit will focus on three main topics: spurring on the global economy, instituting new strategies for promoting African development and searching for solutions to global terrorism. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien has declared that the summit is an important opportunity for Canada to get further involved in international affairs. Chretien established a committee, last January in Ottawa, that organised a series of conferences around the country in which ways of boosting Canada's profile in foreign affairs were studied. One of the main subjects to be discussed by the G8 Summit is the current downward trend in international markets, particularly in North America, Europe and Japan. Their economies' decline was an ongoing phenomenon even prior to the 11 September terrorist attacks in the US. Uncertainty has continued into 2002 but the situation has since stabilised, the crisis in Argentina proving the only exception. Some analysts have noted positive signs: the reduction of interest rates in the industrial countries, the Bush Administration's stimulus package and Congress's approval of the Fast Track Authority (which gives the administration greater freedom in contracting free trade arrangements), being two of the most prominent reforms. These elements suggest that a revival in global trade is due. The successful transition to a united European currency has been another contributing factor to the economic situation stabilising. Agreement was also reached by the WTO's Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, which inaugurated multiple trade talks, purportedly with the aim of assisting developing countries in engaging in international trade. Last February, the foreign ministers of the top seven most industrialised countries and Central Bank officials met in Ottawa and issued positive statements concerning the global economy's prospects. However, despite this, it still seems that economic improvement in the eight most industrialised countries will continue at low levels for the rest of the current year. The level of public debt for the industrialised countries, including the US, as well as the developing countries, remains higher than average. Another challenge confronting the G8 Summit is the growing chasm in information technology between the rich and developing countries -- the infamous "digital divide". In short, the poor condition of world markets, coupled with developing countries' weak economies, suggests that the summit will face a real challenge in finding the means to make less developed countries attain sustained levels of growth. During the upcoming summit, the leaders of the most industrialised countries will also discuss the internal challenges faced by developing nations with regard to economic growth and job-creation. The G8 leaders will focus on the challenges discussed during the WTO ministerial conference held in Doha last year, the International Conference for Finance and Development as well as the results of the International Conference of Continued Development, held in Johannesburg in September 2001. During their last meeting in Italy, the leaders of the industrial countries committed to widening Internet- use and using it to their citizens' and developing countries' advantage. But they also acknowledged that this cannot be realised in the absence of a strong, dynamic, open and growing world economy. The leaders subsequently confirmed that economic development is a must, both in industrial and in developing countries. The degree of interdependence between the two groups becomes clear when it is considered that industrial countries make up around 48 per cent of the world economy and 49 per cent of international trade. At the summit, the involvement of industrialised countries in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) will be given priority. This programme was set up by a group of African leaders with the aim of fighting poverty, promoting economic development and integrating African countries into the global economy. During their last meeting in Genoa, Italy, the G8 leaders discussed the new African plan and examined suggestions on how to face the different social, political and economic challenges faced by the African continent. Their recommendations formed a blueprint, upon which improvements were made and NEPAD was born. The urgency of this endeavour is underscored by the fact that Africa remains, today, the only continent with such high, overall poverty rates. Of sub-Saharan Africa's 659 million inhabitants, 40 per cent live under the international poverty line -- one dollar a day. The African continent's share in international trade has declined to a mere two per cent. Some 130 million young Africans are illiterate and there is a high average of school dropouts. With AIDS epidemic rates still rampant, African mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world. Around 200 million Africans do not receive proper medical treatment while 250 million lack access to clean tap water. The number of civilian casualties to conflict numbers amongst the highest in the world. Taking all these points into consideration, the leaders of the world's industrialised countries have agreed to participate in the new development plan of Africa. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien reiterated after 11 September that African development will be the main focus of discussions at the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada. A Canadian Fund for Africa, started with 500 million Canadian dollars of funding, is to be launched for this purpose. Chretien confirmed his commitment during the United Nations Conference for Finance and Development. The G8 has also incorporated the "fight against terrorism" as an important item on its agenda. These countries, including Canada, have already started taking action in this direction, by reinforcing aviation security and increasing inter-agency intelligence cooperation. Canada, under pressure from the US, has also agreed to reinforce security along its common border, signing a 30-article agreement to this effect in December 2001. Industrial countries have also developed a 25- article plan aimed at combating terrorism. This plan consists of a large programme involving the UN and will address issues such as the financing of terrorism, cooperation in the fields of international aviation and immigration, combating drugs, controlling arms exports and fighting cyber crimes. As early as last October, the finance ministers of the industrialised countries prepared a plan aimed at countering the funding of terrorism. The justice and interior ministers of the industrialised countries held a meeting in Mont- Tremblant, Canada, on 14-15 May to discuss what actions the judiciary needs to take in fighting terrorism and organised crime.
