April 06, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1429

TOKYO, April 5: The Group of Eight industrialised nations on Saturday agreed to send a “strong message” to back growth in poor countries, and cautioned themselves to meet donation pledges, officials said.

G8 development officials began a two-day ministerial meeting here on how to ease suffering in Africa and other impoverished states as well as bolster their efforts in foreign development aid.

They also held a meeting with their counterparts from fast growing economies such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa.

During the meetings, participants reached consensus that it was important to boost support for growth and the independence of developing nations, particularly in Africa, a Japanese foreign ministry official said.

“Participants argued that the G8 development ministers should send a strong message to the international community to strengthen support for developing nations,” the official said.

They also affirmed that the G8 countries – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States – should “strictly” fulfil their fund pledges as they have promised, the official said.

On Sunday, the G8 countries are scheduled to announce an outline of their proposal for a summit of G8 leaders in Japan’s northern resort of Toyako in July.

“The international community is closely watching results of the Toyako summit,” Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told the meeting.—AFP