Here is the Q & A to answer the frequently asked questions given to us at Okinawa G8 Summit Support Council.

The first summit of the world's major powers was held in Rambouillet, France, in 1975, following a proposal by then French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. The summit first began as an arena for advanced countries to closely discuss the issues of the time -- the oil crisis and the recession following the crisis. At the Rambouillet summit, the participants discussed the advanced nations' cooperation on mainly economic issues, such as the growth of the global economy,international currency and trade, energy, and problems between advanced countries and developing ones. In summits since the Rambouillet summit, a wide range of issues from political to social ones --including the environment, narcotics, and international terrorism-- have been taken up for discussion. At the 24th summit of the world's major powers, the Birmingham G-8 summit held in 1998, meetings of foreign ministers and financial ministers on the sidelines of summit meetings were for the first time held at a separate location. At the Kyushu-Okinawa summit slated for the year 2000 as well, meetings of foreign and financial ministers are planned to be held at separate locations.

Summit meetings have been held every year, with member countries hosting the meetings by turns; and the member countries, except for Japan and the United Kingdom, have held summit meetings in their provinces. In Japan, so far, summit meetings have been held in Tokyo three times, but it was decided to hold the 2000 summit in provincial cities instead of Tokyo. After the decision, eight municipalities, including Okinawa, announced their candidacy for hosting the summit. Okinawa appeared to be rather slow in taking steps to invite the summit, but the signatures of 200,000 people calling for holding the summit in Okinawa were collected in a short period of time with the help of "the enthusiasm of the Okinawan people." The Prefectural People's Conference, comprising 500 organizations, was formed; all of Okinawa's city, town, and village assemblies adopted resolutions calling for holding the summit in the prefecture; and politicians submitted to the central government a suprapartisan request to hold the summit in the prefecture. With the help of these successful steps, it was decided to hold the summit in the prefecture after Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's political decision.

The "Bankoku-shinryo Kan" now being constructed at Cape Busena, Nago city, is planned to be the main place for the summit. The hall is a cultural exchange facility that the OPG included in the "Master Plan for a Seaside Resort in the Cape Busena Area," which was formulated in 1990 with an eye to building an international resort in the Cape Busena Area. The hall is being constructed as a resort facility where conventions can be held; and its construction, planned to be completed at the end of next March, is currently being promoted. "Bankoku-shinryo" means "bridge connecting the world," and this name expresses the prosperousness and spirit of our Okinawan ancestors, who brought prosperity to the Ryukyu Kingdom during the so-called grand-trade era between the 14th and 16th centuries. The name also expresses the hope that the hall will become for Okinawa, which aims to develop itself as a "key point of exchanges in the Asia-Pacific Region" toward the 21st century, a place to learn the history of our Okinawan ancestors who played an active part as a "bridge connecting Asia"; a place for dialogues and exchanges toward the bright future of the world; and a place to nurture hospitality with originality that Okinawa can show to visitors of the prefecture.

They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. At summit meetings, nine people -- the representatives of these G-8 nations and the president of the European Commission, who represents the European Union -- discuss important issues that the world is facing at the time. The G-8 meetings are usually held after the Group of Seven (G-7) countries, or the G-8 countries excluding Russia, first discuss such issues as the international financial issue. Japan is asked to play an important role as the only Asian country participating in the G-8.

The impact of holding a summit in Okinawa will be exerted on a wide range of fields, including the social and cultural fields, and is not limited to the economic field. However, if we consider only the impact on the economy, it is expected that there will be short-term and mid-and long-term impacts. As short-term impacts on the economy, we can consider the effects on relevant industries of the necessary expenses for holding meetings and related events and the money spent on hotel charges and other expenses for staying in Okinawa, for transportation, and for other purposes by those connected with the summit, including the delegations of each country. However, what is more important is the mid- and long-term impact on the Okinawan economy. First, we can anticipate a further increase in the number of tourists visiting the prefecture and success in inviting international conferences and events to Okinawa after Okinawa's attractiveness is presented to those from other parts of Japan and to foreigners through domestic and foreign mass media reports on Okinawa's fine nature, history, and culture. It can be considered that Okinawa's tourism and resort industries will further develop following this.
In addition, it is believed that the summit will contribute to fostering human resources that can deal with internationalization by enabling Okinawa to accumulate know-how about hosting international conferences, and will enhance the Okinawan people's sense of hospitality towards visitors to the prefecture, among other things. During the summit, we can publicize at home and abroad the preferential tax measures and the back-up system for those who found corporations in Okinawa, as well as the prefecture's investment environment, including our abundant young labor force. This publicity will give impetus to industries, mainly the following: processing trade of the type that utilizes the free trade zone system; the information and telecommunications industry, for which the foundation of call centers is currently being promoted in Okinawa; and the tourism and resort industries.

It is necessary for the success of the summit to have police guarding the safety of top leaders and other officials of the major nations. We do want the people in Okinawa to understand this point. On the other hand, we have to avoid cases in which the safety and peace of the prefectural people are sacrificed. At the time of the Cologne summit, people were given detailed information on areas and times that would be affected by traffic restrictions for VIP escorts. Active efforts were made to seek cooperation from citizens. Learning lessons from such precedents, we will do our best not to create inconveniences for people's lives as far as possible. We will do so while keeping in close contact and coordinating with the authorities concerned.