Cuba Invites Rawlings To Group Of 77 Summit

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The Cuban government Monday invited President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana to a conference of the Group of 77 developing countries slated for Havana from 10-15 April to discuss their economies in relation to globalisation.

Angel Dalmah, Cuba's foreign minister, who extended the invitation when he called on Rawlings, said the South-South Summit would deliberate on a plan of action to adopt for the UN Millennium Summit scheduled for New York in September.

"It is the hope of the Cuban government that President Rawlings will attend the summit because his contribution will be beneficial," he said.

Rawlings said until developing countries took themselves serious, "they will continue to be at the periphery of the economies and technologies of the modern world".

He added that developing countries have the numbers, the resources and the circumstances to speed up their development. "We need to examine where we are and where we are going," he stressed.

Victor Gbeho, Ghana's foreign minister, said Western countries have rearranged their affairs to take advantage of the new realities in global trade and until developing countries do the same "they will be at the receiving end."

"Ghana is interested in developing together to chart a new course," he said.