Four Delegations Visit Summit Venue in Third Week in February
20/02/09
Four delegations from G8 member countries, along with delegations from other countries invited to attend next July's summit, have been visiting Sardinia over the past few days to inspect the venue of the talks.
The week began on 16 February with a visit by the Japanese delegation led by Ryosuke Kuwana, director of the Economic Affairs and Ceremonial Office. Mr. Kuawana was accompanied by Akihiko Uchikawa, a functionary with the Japanese Embassy in Italy. The Japanese delegates left for home the following day.
18 February saw the arrival of a delegation from the European Union, because the summit is also attended by the EU Commission president and by the government leader of the EU member country that holds the duty presidency. Sweden will be holding the duty presidency when the G8 summit convenes in July 2009. The delegation was led by Roberto Santaniello, spokesman for the European Commission in Italy, and by Maria Elgstrand, political adviser to the Swedish prime minister's office.
The Canadian delegation, led by Marsha Kern from the prime minister's ceremonial staff, also visited the summit venue on 18 February.
The Brasilian delegation led by Alethea Pennati Migita, a functionary from the Foreign Ministry's Ceremonial Department, brought the week's visits to a close with an inspection on 19 February. The delegations were met by representatives of the G8 Mission Structure and by Marta Di Gennaro, deputy chief of the Civil Protection Department.
The delegations' visiting agendas, all of them very full and very similar to one another, took place in a cordial and cooperative climate. After landing at Olbia-Costa Smeralda airport, delegates were accompanied to the island of La Maddalena. They prepared for their visit in the offices of the G8 commissioner delegate's guest structure, viewing filmed material describing the buildings and ships that will be hosting the delegation and the press from 8 to 10 July. After completing their inspections, they continued their discussions on the logistical and organisational aspects of the summit, while various aspects relating to security, transport, media services and telecommunications were discussed separately. For all the delegations the most important part of the trip was a visit to the building site in the former military arsenal of La Maddalena, the structure that will be hosting the main part of the summit. The delegates voiced their complete satisfaction with the work, which is now well on the way towards completion. They also visited the former hospital of La Maddalena where several delegations are to be lodged, the island's health care structures, the port of Olbia where the Media Centre is to be set up, the city's airport through which several delegations will be traveling while the summit is under way and lastly, a number of hotels on the coast of the Gallura region.
