Jordan King's Special Advisor here to discuss G-11 Initiative

COLOMBO: Ambassador Farouk Kasrawi, former Foreign Minister and Special Advisor to King Abdullah II of Jordan visited Sri Lanka from January 4-5 to discuss matters pertaining to the G-11, the Lower Middle Income Countries Initiative.

The G-11 aims to create a new partnership among lower middle income countries so that common platforms could be created for soliciting additional support from international donors through increased aid, facilitated trade and debt relief, a release from the Foreign Ministry said. The countries involved in the Initiative are Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Paraguay, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

During the visit Kasrawi met Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Senior officials of the Ministries of Trade and Finance. Samaraweera welcomed the white paper prepared by the Jordanian Government on behalf of G-11. The Minister also conveyed the President's best wishes to the King of Jordan.

The First Summit Level Meeting of countries involved in the Initiative convened by the King of Jordan was held on the sidelines of the 61st UNGA Sessions in New York on September 20, 2006.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Minister Samaraweera participated at this Meeting.

Kasrawi's current visit is a follow up to the 1st Summit Meeting of the G-11.

The Second Summit of the G-11 is scheduled to be held in May 2007 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Jordan.