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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was invited to participating in the G8 Summit Meeting being held in Gleneagles, Scotland.
The G8, which began its meeting Wednesday, July 6, is composed of Russia and the world's seven most industrialized countries - the United States, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy.
The two central topics of debate at the Summit are poverty in Africa and climate change on the planet.
Brazil, together with China, India, Mexico, and South Africa, was a guest participant at yesterday's expanded session on the environmental question.
Lula also plans to meet with the other four guest country leaders to discuss issues of interest to developing countries.
"The invitation for Brazil to participate in the Summit reveals a recognition on the part of the G8 that the debate among themselves is no longer sufficient and that it is necessary to hear the developing world," affirms the Undersecretary-General for Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Ambassador Antônio de Aguiar Patriota.
The Ambassador told that the emphasis in President Lula's presentation at the expanded session of the G8 will be the link between environmental protection and the war on poverty and the need for economic development in the developing world.
Lula is also expected to address the Brazilian energy crisis and the effort the country has been making to research new energy sources, such as ethanol and biodiesel.
Economic questions may also be interjected, even if in general terms. "The focus of the meeting will be climate change, but whenever the G8 meets, it also assesses the state of the world economy, so there is always room to touch on other aspects," the Ambassador observes.
The Brazilian President is also expected to take advantage of the presence of the French President, Jacques Chirac, and the German Prime-Minister, Gerhard Schroeder, to bring the members of the G8 up to date on the initiative to combat hunger and poverty.
Chirac and Schroeder are members of the so-called "bureau" of the Action Against Global Hunger and Poverty.
The coordination meeting among the leaders of the five developing country guests at the G8 Summit will deal with environmental matters and current themes in the international economy.
Brazil, India, South Africa, China, and Mexico should issue a Joint Declaration summarizing their common views on the topics discussed.
Brazil will not participate in the expanded G8 meeting, today, on Africa. The guest countries at today's meeting will be South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, and Algeria, as well as the president of the African Union.
ABr - www.radiobras.gov.br
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