G15

The summit-level Group brings together developing nations from across the world for promoting
South-South cooperation and North South dialogue.

Origin and Development

The Group of Fifteen (G-15) was set up by fifteen developing countries in 1989 at the ninth NAM
Summit in Belgrade as an Action Group with the role of a catalyst for the Third World. The aim
was to strengthen cooperation among the world’s leading developing nations and serve as a
bridge to the (then) G-7 industrialised nations. The founder-members were Argentina, Chile,
Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Jamaica and Venezuela from the Americas; Egypt, Algeria, Senegal,
Nigeria and Zimbabwe from Africa; and India, Malaysia and Indonesia from Asia.

The first G-15 summit was held in Malaysia in 1990. In 1996, 11 members of the Group were
among the 50 top exporters and importers in the world. Collectively these countries accounted
for 10 per cent of the world’s merchandise exports and 10 per cent of the world’s imports. Their
population size of a 1.8 billion accounts for almost 30 per cent of global population. Kenya was
admitted as the 16th member at the Kuala Lumpur Summit in 1997. Sri Lanka joined in 1999;
Iran and Columbia were admitted in 2000. The nomenclature of the Group, however, remains
the same.

Objectives

The main objectives of the G-15 are “to harness the considerable potential for greater and
mutually beneficial cooperation among developing countries; hold a review of the impact of the
world economic situation and the state of international relations of developing countries; serve
as a forum for regular consultations among developing countries with a view to coordinating
policies and actions; identify and implement new and concrete schemes for South-South
cooperation and mobilize wider support for them; pursue a more positive and productive
North-South dialogue; and find new ways of dealing with problems in a cooperative, constructive
and mutually supportive manner”.

Structure

The highest decision-making body of the G-15 is the annual Summit Meeting of its Head of
State and Government (HOS/G) which is chaired by the country hosting the summit. To prepare
for the annual summit and to coordinate the work of the Group, the Foreign Ministers of the
G-15 countries usually meet twice every year. The daily work of the G-15 is supervised by the
personal representatives of the HOS/G. These representatives meet at least four times a week,
and are guided in their work by a troika comprising the current, previous and future chairmen of
the Group. Ministers of Trade and Economics of the G-15 countries meet as and when deemed
necessary. In addition, other ministers of the member-countries may meet when required.
The G-15 is assisted by a Technical Support Facility (TSF) based in Geneva. The TSF works
under the guidance of the Chairman for the current year and is responsible for giving
substantive and technical secretariat support for the activities of the Group and for promoting its
objectives.

Private sector participation in G-15 activities is encouraged and actively promoted. The G-15
has established a Business Investment Forum (BIF) and a Committee on Investment, Trade and
Technology (CITT) to facilitate interaction between the private and public sectors, and between
the business communities of member-countries.

Activities

The G-15 strives to search for a more equitable economic order, and one of its major concerns
is to bridge the growing disparities between the North and South. At various international fora,
the G-15 has called upon the developed countries to be sensitive to the needs and interests of
the developing countries while adopting macro-economic policies. The member-countries have
sough the reform of major international financial and trade institutions so as to allow maximum
benefits for the less-developed countries and to integrate the developing countries with the
world economy. As for South-South cooperation, members have taken steps to increase
inter-dependency in areas such as trade, transport, exchange of information and technology,
technical expertise and infrastructural development, and, in general, to reduce their dependence
on the North. Combating poverty and unemployment is another major area of cooperation for
the G-15.

The G-15 has also launched a wide range of economic and technical cooperation projects. Each
project is coordinated and funded by the initiating country. Projects have been established in
fields such as environment, technology, education, trade and investment. G-15 projects are
open to participation by all developing countries. Each of these projects is supported by a
network of national focal points (NFPs) and monitored by the TSF.