Obuchi, left, talks with Clinton before the meeting in Cologne  ALSO: G-8 protesters arrested in downtown Los Angeles

June 18, 1999
Web posted at: 9:19 p.m. EDT (0119 GMT)

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COLOGNE, Germany (CNN) -- Leaders of the world's richest industrialized nations gathered in Cologne on Friday for an annual summit on the global economy. Besides the Kosovo crisis, they plan to discuss debt relief for poor nations and other pressing financial issues.

Topping the agenda for the talks that will last through Sunday is the task of rebuilding the Balkans in the aftermath of the NATO-Yugoslav fighting in Kosovo that ended more than a week ago.

But the leaders opened their meeting with discussions on controlling the $1 trillion in currency trade and stock investments that take place globally each day.

They hope to regulate the flows to prevent the volatility that shook a number of Asia's leading economies and threatened to push the world into recession last year.

A new economic assistance package could be offered to financially troubled Russia, which was formally admitted last year to what is now the Group of Eight (G-8).

Russian President Boris Yeltsin was not in Cologne for the start of the meeting involving the United States, France, Britain, Japan, Canada, Germany and Italy. He planned to join the group on Sunday; Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin was to arrive earlier.

Klaus Gretschmann, economic adviser to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, said Friday that any proposal to help Russia would be linked to resolving the role Russian peacekeeping troops will play in Kosovo.

Japan worries about debt write-offs

U.S. President Bill Clinton, after speaking with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi Friday morning, cited Japan's success in turning around its slumping economy this year as "a tribute to the steadfast economic reform program of the prime minister."

Clinton said he hoped to make progress on Washington's lingering dispute with Tokyo over the surge of Japan's low- priced steel imports to the United States.

Japan, the world's largest international lender, was taking a leading role in the debate on debt relief. With nearly $9 billion in outstanding loans to less-developed countries, Japan wants to be sure it does not bear the brunt of any debt write-off.

G-8 nations reached agreement on a plan to offer as much as $100 billion in debt relief to 33 of the world's poorest countries.

British officials said Prime Minister Tony Blair would argue that rich countries had both a moral obligation and self- interest in forgiving debt, because it would reduce their aid bills to poor nations.

Protesters around the world planned to dramatize the issue of debt relief. Irish rock singer Bono and Bishop Rodriguez of Honduras were to hand over a petition demanding that the G-8 drop Third World debt by the year 2000. Thousands more were expected to make a human chain around the building where the summit is being held.

The G-8 will take up other political topics as well. Obuchi spent much of his time with Clinton on Friday discussing North Korea. The Japanese prime minister was ask other G-8 members to warn North Korea against more missile tests and nuclear weapons research.

The G-8 could give a boost to talks over the divided island of Cyprus. It has been split into rival Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities since Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in 1974 after a short-lived coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece.

Britain, a key proponent of enlarging the European Union, hopes cooperation between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus will improve the island's chances for membership.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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