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| NAM summit opens in Egypt
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Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt (PANA) -
The 15th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM
) opened Wednesday at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sham El Sheikh,
with participants calling for more cooperation among developing countries so the
y can better tackle major international and regional issues, including the curre
n
t global
financial crisis.
Opening the summit, Cuban President Raul Castro, who chaired the 14th NAM summit
, said NAM was convinced that all countries in the world should search for
effective and justified measures to tackle the current financial crisis.
“The current crisis originates from rich countries due to their imbalances and i
mpartial international economic system. We call for the renew of international f
i
nancial system,
based on the real participation of developing nations," President Castro said.
Host Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was elected by acclamation as the cha
irperson of the 15th NAM summit, appealed for the construction of a
new international political, economic and trade system, which is more balanced a
nd equitable.
“This summit is a good opportunity for dialogue," he said, urging NAM members to
make use of the summit to boost solidarity.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; Chairman of the G-77 and China and the Represe
ntatives of the various Regional Groups representing Africa, Asia, Latin America
,
the Caribbean and European later addressed the summit.
President Mubarak and his wife was billed to host the Heads of State and Governm
ent Heads of Delegations and First Ladies to a lunch before the
summit enters into its plenary session, where the leaders or their representativ
es will focus their debate on the summit theme of ''International Solidarity for
Peace and Development''.
Such topics as the global financial crisis, climate change, the Middle East peac
e process, food security, energy and nuclear issues are on the agenda.
They are also scheduled to sign the summit's Final Document and a Sharm el-Sheik
h Declaration, and approve the movement's strategy and action plan for the next
t
hree years.
The NAM, formally founded in September 1961, groups 118 member states including
53 from Africa, 38 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean and one fr
o
m
Europe. It also has 16 observer countries and nine observer organizations.
It represents nearly two-thirds of the United Nations' members, particularly the
developing countries, and comprises 55 percent of the world population.
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| Sharm el Sheikh - 15/07/2009 |
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