Italy hosts expanded summit to keep G8 relevant
ROME (Reuters) - Italy has invited 40 nations and organizations, representing 90 percent of the world economy, to next week's G8 summit in a bid to make the Group of Eight more relevant as the balance of world economic power shifts.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will host the summit in the mountain city of L'Aquila in the hope of reconstructing a region ravaged by Italy's worst earthquake in decades in April -- but some delegates say it is the G8 itself which needs rebuilding.
For G8 leaders such as Germany's Angela Merkel the financial crisis has exposed the group's inadequacies in steering a turbulent global economy where emerging economic powers such as China, India and Brazil wield increasing financial clout.
"The summit in L'Aquila will make clear this G8 format is no longer enough," Merkel told Germany's lower house of parliament on Thursday.
The broader G20 forum, grouping rich industrial nations and major emerging economies, has already been tasked with formulating a regulatory response to the worst global recession in decades. Next week's G8 summit comes sandwiched between major G20 summits in London in April and in September in Pittsburgh.
Italy wanted to maintain the G8's relevance by strengthening its relations with other international groups, said Giampiero Massolo, the Italian diplomat in charge of preparing the summit.
"The L'Aquila summit must stress the persistent role of the G8 and the fact the G8 alone is no longer enough to tackle global governance," Massolo told parliament. "A stable, structured association with big emerging economies is needed."
For the first time, the G8 will issue a joint statement on sustainable growth with the emerging nations of the G5 group -- China, India, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa -- plus Egypt.
VARIOUS FORMATS
The global economic situation, carbon emissions and development aid will also be discussed in various groupings of countries in L'Aquila, culminating in 40 heads of government and international institutions joining talks on aid and development on the final day.
"The central vision of the G8 Italian presidency is that in a world deeply changed we need complementary and not competing forums, able to take advantage of their respective formats," Gianni Letta, Berlusconi's top aide said last week.
Massolo said there was no consensus on dissolving the G8 and replacing it with a more inclusive grouping, which might prove unwieldy. Rather, there was scope for the G8 to guide economic policy in liaison with selected emerging economies.
"While the G8 enlargement to the emerging economies is the fruit of a precise political choice, the G20 was born ... from the need to associate the largest number of countries to face a situation of crisis," he said.
Other leaders, including emerging nations, seem to agree.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak wrote last week, "One may ... wonder whether the G20 will replace the G7/G8 as the informal global steering committee in the near future. I do not think so."
(Editing by Louise Ireland)
