Birmingham Summit (Hansard, 1 June 1998)

§ Sir Alastair Goodlad
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if the multilateral untying of aid was on the agenda of the G8 Summit in Birmingham; and if she will make a statement. [43634]

§ Clare Short
The G8 Summit endorsed the important work on multilateral untying of aid being undertaken in the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in particular a proposal on untying aid to the least developed countries with a view to proposing a text in 1999.

§ Sir Alastair Goodlad
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress was made at the G8 Summit in Birmingham on(a) the multilateral untying of aid and (b) the phasing out of export subsidies. [43636]

§ Clare Short
The G8 Summit endorsed the important work on multilateral untying of aid being undertaken in the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in particular a proposal on untying aid to the least developed countries with a view to proposing a text in 1999. There was no substantive discussion on export subsidies.

§ Sir Alastair Goodlad
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the meetings which she has had since 1 May at which the multilateral untying of aid was on the agenda. [43637]

§ Clare Short
On 18 May I chaired the EU Development Council which agreed that Development and Finance Ministers should meet to prepare a note on EC untying to complement the work of the Development Assistance Committee. This will be submitted before the summer break.

§ Sir Alastair Goodlad
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with representatives from other G8 countries concerning the multilateral untying of aid. [43633]

§ Clare Short
I have had a number of useful discussions on untying of aid with colleagues from G8 countries. At the Birmingham Summit G8 countries pledged to work within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on a recommendation on untying aid to the least developed countries with a view to proposing a text in 1999.
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