City of Hiroshima forms council to promote bid to host 2016 G8 summit
Aug. 14, 2014
by Masanori Wada and Takeshi Kikumoto, Staff Writers
On August 7, the City of Hiroshima officially announced that it will make a bid to host the G8 summit held in Japan in 2016. On this day, the City of Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, and the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) jointly established a council to promote the bidding effort to bring the summit to Hiroshima. They showed a proposed summit schedule, including an offering of flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims by U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders. This is the second time that the City of Hiroshima has sought to host a G8 summit. The first time was for the summit of 2000.
The top leaders of the eight organizations of the council, including Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, and HCCI Chairman Hideki Fukayama, attended the first meeting of the council, held at the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima in Minami Ward. Mr. Matsui, selected as chairman of the council, stressed the significance of hosting the summit in Hiroshima, saying, “If the summit leaders gather in this symbolic city, which aspires for the abolition of nuclear weapons, it would give hope to the world. The prefectural and municipal governments, along with the private sector, will make a joint effort to bring the summit to Hiroshima.”
According to the draft schedule proposed by the city to the council, the summit will take place over two days in June 2016. The schedule also includes a visit by the G8 leaders to Peace Memorial Museum, located in Peace Memorial Park. The proposed venue for the meeting is the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima. Four other hotels in the city are listed as hotel accommodations for government delegations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that applications from local governments are being accepted until around the end of this month and that the host city will be decided in the spring of next year. According to the Ministry, Nagano Prefecture is seeking to invite the summit to the town of Karuizawa, and Niigata Prefecture and Niigata City wish to host it in the city of Niigata. The Kobe City Assembly has also adopted a resolution to make a bid for the summit.
The City of Hiroshima will soon write a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and convey its desire to host the summit. The members of the council will also makes requests to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to choose Hiroshima as the summit venue. When the City of Hiroshima made a bid for the G8 summit of 2000, the city formed a council with the prefectural government and the HCCI, like this time, but it was not chosen as the host city, and the 2000 summit was held in the city of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture. When the summit was held in the town of Toyako, Hokkaido in 2008, Hiroshima did not pursue a bid.
(Originally published on August 8, 2014)
On August 7, the City of Hiroshima officially announced that it will make a bid to host the G8 summit held in Japan in 2016. On this day, the City of Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, and the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) jointly established a council to promote the bidding effort to bring the summit to Hiroshima. They showed a proposed summit schedule, including an offering of flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims by U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders. This is the second time that the City of Hiroshima has sought to host a G8 summit. The first time was for the summit of 2000.
The top leaders of the eight organizations of the council, including Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, and HCCI Chairman Hideki Fukayama, attended the first meeting of the council, held at the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima in Minami Ward. Mr. Matsui, selected as chairman of the council, stressed the significance of hosting the summit in Hiroshima, saying, “If the summit leaders gather in this symbolic city, which aspires for the abolition of nuclear weapons, it would give hope to the world. The prefectural and municipal governments, along with the private sector, will make a joint effort to bring the summit to Hiroshima.”
According to the draft schedule proposed by the city to the council, the summit will take place over two days in June 2016. The schedule also includes a visit by the G8 leaders to Peace Memorial Museum, located in Peace Memorial Park. The proposed venue for the meeting is the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima. Four other hotels in the city are listed as hotel accommodations for government delegations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that applications from local governments are being accepted until around the end of this month and that the host city will be decided in the spring of next year. According to the Ministry, Nagano Prefecture is seeking to invite the summit to the town of Karuizawa, and Niigata Prefecture and Niigata City wish to host it in the city of Niigata. The Kobe City Assembly has also adopted a resolution to make a bid for the summit.
The City of Hiroshima will soon write a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and convey its desire to host the summit. The members of the council will also makes requests to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to choose Hiroshima as the summit venue. When the City of Hiroshima made a bid for the G8 summit of 2000, the city formed a council with the prefectural government and the HCCI, like this time, but it was not chosen as the host city, and the 2000 summit was held in the city of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture. When the summit was held in the town of Toyako, Hokkaido in 2008, Hiroshima did not pursue a bid.
(Originally published on August 8, 2014)
