G11 was established at the initiative of Jordanian King Abdullah II and its first summit was held on the fringes of the 61st annual UN General Assembly. In attendance, apart from Mesic, were the presidents or foreign ministers of Ecuador, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay and Sri Lanka. No one represented Tunisia.
King Abdullah said that more than one fourth of the world's population live in low to middle-income countries which need international aid that contributes to faster economic growth, brings reform benefits and is development-oriented.
He said the G11 countries have good macroeconomic indicators, a robust GDP growth, a higher share in the world trade and a lower share in the servicing of external debts with export revenue, but still need aggressive structural reforms as generators of growth and development.
The Jordanian king said the most developed countries and international institutions clearly recognised their responsibility to solve the global poverty issue and focused on assisting extremely poor countries, notably in Africa. He added, however, that assistance was vital for low to middle-income countries as well.
He said G11 should prepare a joint platform on key interest areas such as the adapting of foreign aid to local needs, lobbying for exchanging loans with guarantees so as to reduce debt accumulation, lobbying for developed countries to open their markets for products from developing countries, for developing the private sector in partnership with developed countries and for attracting foreign investment.
The goal of cooperation is to have a joint platform before the international community, notably the G8 group, said King Abdullah.
Croatian President Mesic supported the initiative, saying it was one of the few which had a purpose and made sense in the plethora of existing initiatives and conferences.
Croatia and Pakistan do not fully fit the economic characteristics of the G11 countries but share identical or similar problems which call for identical or similar solutions, said Mesic.
"We are all directed to one identical goal, development... Economic growth and development are inseparable from global peace and security... Adjusting economic growth and reducing the gap between the rich and the poor is one of the key preconditions for the success of the fight against global terrorism, which is the biggest threat to peace and stability in the world today," said the Croatian president.
He underlined that the road to development called for strengthening the rule of law, good governance, suppression of corruption, development of civil society and expansion of spaces of freedom for peoples and individuals.
"We rightfully expect international creditors to relieve our debt burden as without additional aid from the most developed countries it will be difficult to raise the living standards of our peoples, increase the number of those employed and contribute to global trade and stability," said Mesic.
He suggested that G11 summits be held once a year on the fringes of bigger international conferences.