The International Conference on Remittances will be held on Monday 9 November 2009 at the foreign ministry in Rome, organised by the ministry and the World Bank in the context of the Italian G8 presidency. The information on the event content is available on the websites www.esteri.it and www.g8italia2009.it.
The initiative is the concrete follow-up to one of the commitments underwritten at the L’Aquila summit, which approved Italy’s proposal for the G8’s renewed commitment on matters of remittances, setting a precise and quantifiable goal for the first time ever: to reduce the average global cost of remittances from the current 10% to 5% over the next 5 years (the so-called “5x5”). This is the Italian G8 presidency’s concrete contribution to identifying innovative instruments and approaches to economic growth and development in various parts of the world.
Participating in the international conference will be representatives of governments and central banks of the G8 countries, countries most involved in remittance flows and interested in reducing costs and of the private sector, as well as sector operators and international experts.
The keynote session, from 9.30 to 10.30 Monday 9 November, will be open to the media and photographic coverage. Speeches are expected from Minister for Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini, Vice President of the World Bank Janamitra Devan and Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy Giovanni Carosio.
Journalists and camera operators interested in covering the opening session are asked to apply for accreditation no later than 16.00 on Friday 6 November using the online system available in the “Journalists Area” of our website www.esteri.it to which all required documentation can be attached in digital format.
Accreditation badges will be distributed in person upon presentation of an ID document at the ministry’s Accreditation Office at the Via della Macchia della Farnesina entrance starting at 8.30, and all media personnel are asked to report to that entrance by 8.45.