![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: World | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]()
|
![]() |
Saturday, 22 July, 2000, 00:58 GMT 01:58 UK
G8 focus on digital divide
![]() The Japanese want to open up computer access to more Third World countries
The world's leading powers are being urged to address the so-called digital divide on the second day of the G8 summit in Japan.
Summit host, Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, wants to highlight the gulf that separates rich and poor countries in their access to information technology. It is just one of a wide range of international, economic and political issues being discussed by the leading eight industrial nations - the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada and Russia. They also want to launch initiatives to tackle infectious diseases which are estimated to kill 13 million people each year in poorer countries. Too little Aid campaigners have already criticised the leaders after their first day of talks on the Japanese island of Okinawa for failing to speed up moves to cancel Third World debt. Summit members acknowledged that too little was being done to give debt relief to the world's poorest nations, but said they were still committed to wiping out $100bn in Third World debt. Now Mr Mori is expected to announce plans for another $15bn worth of Japanese aid over five years to promote the use of information technology in the developing world. The aid would be intended to pay for the training of ten thousand IT experts in Third World countries as well as help prevent crimes committed using the internet. Mr Mori says information technology is the key to development in both rich and poor countries.
But G8 leaders are well aware that the poorer countries have relatively little access to this technology so Mr Mori wants the summit to agree to co-operate on addressing the digital divide.
Earlier in the summit Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who has been taking part in his first G8, met US President Bill Clinton They pledged to work together to control intermediate-range missiles and improve the exchange of data from early-warning systems. But they avoided direct reference to their differences over the American project to develop a nuclear-missile shield. Mr Putin also saw British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who said London is offering more than $100m of aid to help Russia destroy chemical weapons and dispose of unneeded plutonium.
The Russian president indicated that he would push for a debt rescheduling deal for Russia. But the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, said Russia was benefiting from rising oil and gas prices and did not need generous treatment. The G8 agenda also covers the scourge of Aids, illegal diamond trafficking and the safety of genetically-modified foods.
|
![]() |
![]()
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top World stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more World stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more World stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |