Next week's Group of Eight summit in Canada will see world leaders encouraging their African counterparts to adopt self-help efforts to reduce poverty, as well as seeking to underscore the global fight against terrorism, according to Japan's top negotiator on these issues.
Shotaro Oshima, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, said the summit will also return to its original concept, a forum for frank and intimate discussions between leaders, with only a handful of officials allowed to accompany the leaders to the Canadian Rockies resort of Kananaskis, Alberta.
"It will be a very relaxed setting and will offer leaders a chance to talk frankly and build close relations," Oshima told The Japan Times in a recent interview.