The gathering of finance chiefs from the Group of Eight nations slated for July 8 in Fukuoka is likely to temporarily slow the local economy as police curtail business activities for security reasons, local industrialists said Thursday.
Posh local hotels, where delegates from the G8 nations will stay, have agreed to requests from the Fukuoka Prefectural Police not to allow ordinary customers in their restaurants and banquet rooms for a certain period of time, hotel officials said.
The Fukuoka summit of finance ministers and central bankers from the G8 nations will precede the July 21-23 Okinawa G8 summit, whose agenda will cover both economic and political issues.
The Hotel Okura Fukuoka, where delegates from Japan, Germany, and two other nations will stay, "will be transformed into a sort of local Finance Ministry bureau," a source close to the hotel said.