By Xinhua
Rio De Janeiro : France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has said the G8, comprising seven wealthiest countries in the world plus Russia, should be converted into G13, to include Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.
Sarkozy said this at a meeting with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in French Guiana Tuesday.
“The G8 must become something more than that. In the end, even if we do not want to think about anybody else, we must consider there is China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
“The emerging countries have an influence on the world’s economy, as well as the eight countries that currently form the G8,” Sarkozy said in a statement released by Brazil’s state news agency Agencia Brasil.
The French leader reiterated his country’s support for Brazil’s application to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
“It is inconceivable to imagine that one can speak of the world’s main issues without consulting a single African country, a single country of South America, as if those two continents did not exist,” he said.
President Lula said Brazil and France shared a similar view on the need for the democratisation of international bodies, such as the UN and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“It is necessary to think as in the 21st century, and not in the 20th century pattern. We are convinced that an institution like the IMF must think about development rather than tax adjustment,” said the Brazilian leader.
The two presidents gathered Tuesday to discuss cooperation projects, involving the border between Brazil and French Guiana, an overseas territory of France.
The two countries plan to build a bridge in the region, connecting the municipality of Oiapoque, in the north of Brazil, to Saint Georges d’Oyapock in French Guiana, where the meeting took place.
The project is aimed at battling illegal activities “including unauthorised gold mining” and at boosting development in the area, covered with Amazon rainforest vegetation.