A summit of 55 French-speaking nations kicked off Friday evening under the shadow of a global financial crisis, with leaders lamenting its impact on poorest nations. "Can the Francophonie remain a spectator of these new troubles, agricultural and financial, rattling our planet and which the most disadvantaged will as usual end up paying the biggest price," said Francophonie Secretary General Abdou Diouf at its opening.
The agenda of the 12th Francophonie summit co-hosted by Canada and Quebec was to focus on four main themes: the environment, the economy, democracy and the rule of law, and the struggles of French language itself. But a global financial meltdown following the collapse in the United States of the subprime mortgage market suddenly eclipsed all other issues.
"Our organisation has a big role to play in the global financial crisis," said Canada's newly re-elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Quebec Premier Jean Charest underscored that the summit is the first North-South forum to take place amid the crisis and so was an opportunity to measure its impact, particularly on poorer nations of the southern hemisphere.
It is a "unique opportunity" for the Francophonie to take the lead in a worldwide crisis, he said in an interview with AFP. "Canada's government has committed to take concerted measures to stabilise financial markets and support global economic growth, and we must all be conscious of the impact of this crisis on developing countries," Harper said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the revolving presidency of the European Union, urged a revamping of the world's financial system. He was to take this message with him to Camp David in the US state of Maryland when he meets with US President George W. Bush on Saturday.
"This crisis is an opportunity to change our bad habits ... to reflect differently on economic growth," Sarkozy told some 2,000 delegates of the Francophonie. "But first we must deal with the crisis at hand." "The world is confronted by the worst economic and financial crisis since the 1930s. We need to reflect on the stakes, how we arrived here, who is responsible, and what happened," he said. "And we must draw lessons from it."
"The world must change," he said, urging the assembly to pick up the torch and become "more than a cultural grouping," to become "politically engaged." According to a draft common statement obtained by AFP, the Francophonie is to commit to "support holding international talks" to respond to the global financial crisis by "urgent and co-ordinated" means.
Earlier, at the conclusion of a Canada-EU summit on its sidelines to broaden bilateral trade and ease Canada's trade reliance on its neighbour the United States, Sarkozy and Harper called for financial crisis talks by year's end.
"There's broad agreement on the idea of holding a summit, and in principle before the end of the year, I believe," said Sarkozy at a press conference with Harper and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Sarkozy insisted the crisis talks must not result in "vague principles" but rather push for "ambitious and pragmatic solutions" to the hardships. France, Germany and others have pleaded for South Africa, Mexico and Brazil to join talks.
US President Bush earlier conceded a need for reforms, but in a speech in Washington also warned against possible "undesirable consequences" of new regulations on the economy. As well, Sarkozy and Harper announced the launch of official Canada-EU trade talks in 2009.