His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday morning joined other heads of state at the inaugural ceremony of the Second South Summit of the Group of 77, known as G-77, in Doha, Qatar.
The summit of the South, an alliance of 132 developing nations, opened with a call for the creation of a special development fund for countries of the South.
"We propose that the summit approve the setting up of a fund for economic, social, health and educational development and to address the problems of hunger, poverty and humanitarian catastrophes," the emir of host country Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said, AFP reported.
His Majesty was greeted on arrival for the inaugural ceremony by the Emir of Qatar, RTB reported.
His Majesty arrived in Doha Tuesday night and was welcomed at the Doha International Airport by Minister of State for Family Affairs of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammad bin 'Eid Al-Thani.
Also present at the airport was Charge d'Affairs of Brunei Darussalam Embassy in Doha, Awg Haji Nordin bin Haji Ahmad.
At the inaugural ceremony, the Emir of Qatar said gas-rich Qatar would pay US$20 million towards "the South Fund for Development and Human Circumstances", and urged countries of both North and South to contribute to the proposed fund.
The issues of South-South cooperation, South-North relations and the huge debt crisis of poor nations are high on the agenda of the two-day summit, which is expected to endorse the creation of the proposed development fund.
Sheikh Hamad also proposed the establishment of three Free Trade Zones to promote exports from South nations to the rich North.
"We propose a feasibility study to set up three Free Trade Zones for (promoting) exports of countries of the South to countries of the North," with one zone in each of Africa, Asia and Latin America, Sheikh Hamad said.
The Qatari ruler called on wealthy nations to increase their Official Development Aid to meet the UN target of 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Product (GNP).
Addressing the debt problem faced by poor nations will contribute to the success of international efforts for development, said Sheikh Hamad, urging rich countries to alleviate the debt burden.
- Borneo Bulletin
(16th June 2005)
