Special meetings dedicated to agriculture and development aid will be held for the first time on the sidelines of the G8 summit this year, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Wednesday.
Frattini said he would preside over the two meetings which will be held in Pescara in May, two months before Italy hosts the main G8 summit on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena.
The minister said food security would be the main topic at the agriculture meeting, while the global financial crisis had necessitated discussions on development aid because many countries have had to cut back on contributions.
Other sideline meetings on welfare, the environment and the economy are scheduled to take place from March, while the G8 foreign ministers are due to meet in Trieste in June to discuss the international political situation.
Frattini said Wednesday that the Trieste meeting will be extended to the foreign ministers of China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey.
''If we are talking about security and the fight against terrorism, we need to involve the largest possible number of political actors, taking into account the principal focuses of tension,'' he said.
''Italy intends to promote a global strategy to empty arsenals and fight poverty,'' he said.
Italy in December announed plans to involve the G5 (China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa) and other important non-G8 countries from the second day of the main G8 summit, which will be held between June 8-10.
The third day of talks will include representatives of the African Union, Indonesia and Australia.
This year Italy holds the one-year rotating presidency of the G8, whose members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
