PARIS (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac called for the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations to help kick-start the slumping global economy by adopting convergent policies at a June summit.
"The eight must show that they are willing to work together to adopt convergent monetary, budgetary and economic policies, thereby stimulating revival and the creation of jobs in a coordinated and concerted way," Chirac said in a statement Friday.
The French leader told union leaders from the eight countries in a meeting early Friday that he hoped the G8 countries would launch "a message for growth" at the June 1-3 summit in the eastern French spa town of Evian.
France, which holds the rotating G8 presidency this year, will host Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States at the summit.
Chirac on Friday insisted on the need for the G8 states to push through reforms that would allow their countries to contribute to a global economic upswing and make them more economically competitive in the long term.
The president is due to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Paris on Tuesday in preparation for the event.
An aide to Chirac said in Tokyo earlier this week that France hoped the summit would focus on global economic issues and not the US-led war in Iraq.
Britain, Japan and Italy supported the US-led action in Iraq, while fellow G8 members France, Canada, Germany and Russia sharply criticized the US-British military offensive.
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