World richest nations urged to realize MDGs

The finance ministers of the world's four main developing countries on Saturday in London called for efforts from the world's richest nations to realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2000.

The ministers from Brazil, China, India and South Africa stressed that to halve the number of people in poverty by 2015 is a common goal of the whole world and needs global efforts, Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing told Xinhua after an informal breakfast meeting between the four ministers and their counterparts from the Group of Eight (G8).

The four ministers urged the rich countries to increase development aid for the world's poorest countries, open markets, lift trade barriers and create a better outside environment for development.

The ministers are of the view that the key for realizing the MDGs lies in richest countries' honoring their commitments to more aid for poor nations, Jin said.

G8 finance ministers and their counterparts from the four main developing countries agreed that it is of great importance to strengthen dialogues on macro economic policies, so that they can meet challenges posed by various uncertainties and maintain a comprehensive balanced economic growth, he added.

Finance ministers from the eight industrialized nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia -- are holding a two-day meeting here.

The meeting takes place in the run-up to a G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, next month. Finance ministers from the four developing countries joined their G8 counterparts for breakfast, but did not participate in the group's formal talks.

Source: Xinhua