TOKYO (AFP) — The Group of Eight rich nations vowed Sunday to step up cooperation with emerging donors such as China and India and said they remained committed to a goal to double their own aid to Africa by 2010.
Underscoring the growing role of fast-growing developing economies in global aid efforts, Brazil, China, and India and other emerging donors were invited to talks here that aim to lay the groundwork for the G8 summit in July.
The G8 agreed on the need for "concrete cooperation with emerging donors," Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told a news conference wrapping up the two days of talks here.
G8 nations hope to see more transparency in aid policies by new donors along with efforts to encourage good governance, sustainability of aid and consideration for democratisation, officials said ahead of the talks.
China has made major diplomatic and economic inroads in mostly resource-rich nations in Africa and Latin America by giving aid without imposing any conditions.
This strategy contrasts with that of the United States, the European Union and Japan, which usually use aid as leverage to improve human rights and implement other reforms in recipient nations.
"This new aid is at the same time a hope and a difficulty," said Alain Joyandet, France's junior cooperation minister.
He said it was a good thing that new donors who had received aid in the past now wanted to help other countries, but at the same time new donors should respect international guidelines on awarding aid.
The goal of the talks with emerging donors "is to have a common understanding about the question of standards for investment and regulations," said German development minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul.
"The goal always has to remain that everybody is devoted to the millennium goals," she said, referring to a 2000 UN agreement on poverty reduction.
The Millennium Development Goals aim to achieve targets including halving extreme poverty and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS in impoverished areas by 2015.
A report published last week by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that aid to developing countries fell last year and most donors are falling behind on their pledges to boost assistance.
The G8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- expressed concern at the decline and vowed to strive to fulfil their pledge made in 2005 to double aid for Africa by 2010.
"Each G8 country is determined to strengthen development aid," said Komura.
In order to improve the situation in the fields of poverty, health care, education and water in impoverished countries, "the G8 needs to continue strengthening development aid both in quality and quantity," he said.
The meeting also discussed the impact on developing countries of surging food prices and the growing threat of climate change, ministers said.
"The increase in consumer prices, particularly in Africa, is a concern for us," said France's Joyandet.
"We hope that this issue will be taken up at the G8 summit" on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido in July, he said.
Humanitarian activists said that rich nations should deliver more financial aid to help poorer nations fight the effects of rising greenhouse gases.
The aid money which has been pledged is to be used for "education and health care systems," said Takumo Yamada of British-based charity Oxfam. "Paying for the damage from climate change is the responsibility of rich nations."
The G8 ministers stressed the importance of economic growth and the private sector as the drivers of growth in Africa.
Shinichi Takeuchi, an African specialist at Japan's Institute of Developing Economies, said: "Investment in Africa needs to be accompanied by good governments, which are not corrupt and that can address rich-poor gaps in their countries."
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