G11 seeks trade pact with G8

SHUNEH, Jordan, Saturday (AFP) - Heads of state and representatives of 11 developing countries meet in Jordan today to draw up a platform of cooperation with the G8 industrialised nations and bolster multilateral trade.

The G11 summit grouping Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay and Sri Lanka meets on the shores of the Dead Sea on the sidelines of the Middle East World Economic Forum.

"The summit will publish a final statement embodying a united economic and development vision that will in turn be submitted to the G8 industrialised nations at its next meeting in June," said Faruq Kassrawi, adviser to Jordan's King Abdullah II.

"This is aimed at forging ties between the two groups to help the G11 in its efforts to achieve higher and faster development and obtain technology," he said. King Abdullah will open the summit which will be attended by the presidents of Georgia, Croatia, Sri Lanka and El Salvador, the vice president of Honduras and the prime ministers of Pakistan and Morocco, officials said.

The Jordanian monarch will give a speech focusing on opportunities for cooperation with the G8 that is next due to convene in Germany in June, they added. The G11, launched by the king last September, "can gradually build into a platform to promote free trade," Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters in Amman on Friday.

"We need to promote, project and build on our reformist agenda," he said of the grouping, which aims to reduce debt owed by member states, alleviate poverty and raise standards of living. "The developing world needs today trade more than anything because trade is permanent. Trade creates an industrial base and jobs which will drive growth forward," Aziz added.

After today's gathering, the G11 is expected to issue a consensus statement on its members' economies and development, which will then be submitted to the G8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Ahead of the summit Jordan signed cooperation agreements with Georgia, El Salvador, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The accord with Georgia is the first of its kind between the two nations, Jordanian Planning Minister Suhair Ali said, adding that it was aimed at drawing up a comprehensive framework of bilateral ties. A similar agreement between Jordan and El Salvador set guidelines for cooperation in trade, investment and tourism.

Jordan and Pakistan also inked a memorandum of understanding for a "strategic dialogue" to bolster economic, political and cultural cooperation between the two Muslim nations. Amman and Colombo signed two agreements to boost economic and trade ties and develop cultural relations, and a third accord on strengthening cooperation was signed by the chambers of trade and industry of Jordan and Sri Lanka.