A group of 19 of the world's major lenders has pledged to forgive Haiti's foreign debt obligations, and has urged others to do the same.

A Haitian mother comforts her child at the Killick Haitian Coast Guard Base, as a member of the UN security team stands watch. The Paris Club of foreign lenders has pledged to forgive the quake-rocked country's foreign debts. (Reuters News Agency)

The Paris Club of creditor nations, including Canada, urged all of Haiti's lenders on Tuesday to cancel the earthquake-stricken nation's debt.

An informal group of nations founded in the 1956 Argentine debt crisis, the group said Tuesday that its members will cancel the Caribbean country's debt. Among Paris Club members, Haiti owes a total of $214 million to Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Britain and the U.S.

Canada had already forgiven all of the $2.3 million it was owed by the Haitian government, as part of a move by Ottawa last summer to help more than a dozen heavily indebted poor countries.

The Paris Club meets every six weeks and makes non-binding recommendations, but in Haiti's case, individual members have independently moved to officially forgive Haiti's foreign debt, the group said.

"Bilateral agreements to legally implement this commitment have either already been completed or are currently being finalized," the group said in a statement. "For those creditors that are still in the process of finalizing their agreement, the commitment has been taken to expedite the process.… In any case, Haiti will not have to make any payment in the meantime."

The International Monetary Fund estimated Haiti's total public external debt at $1.8 billion US as of Sept. 2008.

Within that figure is $91 million owed to Taiwan. Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said Tuesday that Taiwan will consider cancelling debts owed by earthquake-ravaged Haiti, a move that could add to Taipei's cachet in a region where rival China is making inroads.

"I have already asked the Foreign Ministry to conduct the necessary reviews to help Haiti to pass through this difficult time," he said in Taipei.

With files from The Associated Press