3rd South Summit Calls for Reform of Global Financial System

KAMPALA, (Xinhua):  The 3rd South Summit opened in Kampala Sunday, with the leaders of the Global South calling for a reform of the global financial system, which they said is unjust to the developing countries.

The two-day meeting is held under the theme “Leaving No One Behind” and is expected to bring a new dynamic to the cooperation among its 134 member states. The South Summit is the supreme decision-making body of the Group of 77 (G77), which was established in June 1964.

Salvador Valdes Mesa, vice president of Cuba and the outgoing chair of the G77, said the forum conveys at a time when developing nations are facing complex challenges in global affairs.

Mesa urged member states to remain united and have a collective response to the current unfair global economic order.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, also the incoming chair of the G77, said the group must remain steadfast in demanding that their countries get fair treatment in the global financial system.

Museveni said international lending institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund must revise their lending terms to developing countries without imposing conditions on them.

“We support the urgent reform of the international financial architecture to ensure that it is fit for purpose to respond to the financing needs of developing countries,” Museveni said.