His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan opened the first Lower-Middle Income Countries (LMIC) Summit in New York, launching a partnership among 11 countries aimed at serving their people and mobilizing global recognition and international support.

“Today we launch a partnership that can deliver tremendous benefits for the people we serve - and make a positive impact for all nations,” King Abdullah told participating heads of state who met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The Group of 11 includes Croatia, Ecuador, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.

King Abdullah said the member states have led the developing world in reforms and achieved much growth and development, and urged concerted efforts to take their success one step further. “We need international support: targeted, results-oriented assistance that can help accelerate economic growth, deliver the benefits of reform, and lock in development gains,” he said.

The leaders of member states echoed the King's remarks and urged developed nations to continue to provide financial support to lower-middle countries to achieve stability and security and eliminate terror which feeds on deprivation and frustration. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf called on wealthy nations not to punish states for good economic performance by reducing economic assistance. Other leaders highlighted the challenges facing the group, hailing King Abdullah's efforts and expressing hope for attracting other members to the group.

The meeting, initiated by the King last year, culminated in a communiqué underscoring the G11 members' commitment to advance their interests in the global economic, investment, and trade arenas and to this end pursue a clear, targeted, and results-oriented package of additional assistance.

They also established a ministerial-level steering committee to meet on a quarterly basis and report to the heads of state as they chart the way forward.

More than a quarter of the world's people live in lower-middle income countries. The G11 hopes to attract more countries of the same category to join the initiative in the future.

The next G11 summit will be held in May 2007 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea, Jordan.