Press encounter en route to the G-8 summit in Kananaskis, (unofficial transcript)

SG: I think it's an important meeting and I'm extremely happy that the African leaders have been invited to come here to discuss with the G-8 leaders how they work together to improve the economic and social situation in Africa. The African leaders have come up with a new African initiative where they accept responsibility for development on the continent, where they accept to improve governance, the rule of law and to respect human rights, run transparent governments, and in return, expect the G-8 to work with them in providing additional development assistance and debt relief and above all fostering investments. So once you create that enabling environment for investment to come in and open up trade, these governments will be able to trade and work themselves out of poverty rather than live on handouts. And that's what they would want.

Q: Is this a threshold, sir, for Africa, and for the impoverished world?

SG: I think, yes, potentially it is a threshold if all sides hold to the bargain and the understanding and the commitments we are making here.

Q: Sir, in your recent release you have pinpointed four issues, saying, that increase ODA, the fight against HIV/AIDS, including peace and security and access for markets. And are you optimistic that the G-8 would listen to the statements you've made for those points?

SG: I am optimistic that they will listen. This is a follow-up to the meeting and the discussions we had in Genoa, Italy, last year. So we are not starting from scratch, and there has been quite a lot of work done in the meantime between the two teams, the G-8 team and the African team, and so I am optimistic.

Q: You are calling for action? SG: We are calling for action, and the G-8 also is insisting on action. And so since everybody is insisting on action, we should see some movement.

Q: Sir, for the Canadians, is there a message about their Prime Minister and about our commitment to the world?

SG: I think the Canadians have always been very generous to the Third World and to my own continent and I think the Prime Minister himself has visited the continent and recently he has indicated that Canada is going to increase its assistance. And you've always been very supportive of development projects and humanitarian issues in Africa. And I hope that that support and that friendship towards the continent will continue.

Thank you. *****