2009-05-26 

Development Ministers' Meeting To Be Held in Rome on 11 and 12 June

The G8 Development Ministers' Meeting, which was initially scheduled to be held in Pescara in late May, is now going to take place at the Farnesina -- the Italian Foreign Ministry -- in Rome on 11 and 12 June.

The Farnesina has issued a statement explaining that a decision has been taken to change the venue in an effort to avoid adding further to the burden already being shouldered by hotels and other structures in Abruzzo in the wake of the earthquake that rocked the region on 6 April.

On the other hand, the Tidewater Conference, which will be attended also by the authorities in charge of bilateral and multilateral agencies, is still going to be held in Pescara but it has been pushed back to October. This is the very first time that Italy, in its capacity as G8 President, will be hosting this event, which is part of a scheme sponsored by the OECD. The meeting will provide those attending with an opportunity to examine and debate the main global issues in the sphere of development.