On the occasion of the consultations held with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC, USA, from 27 to 31 March 2006, EI Deputy General Secretary Elie Jouen also took part in the meeting of the TUAC group on economic issues, which was responsible for drawing up a proposals document with a view to the G8 Summit scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg, Russia in mid-July 2006.
The Summit, which brings together the Heads of State and Government of the most industrialised countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States), is held every year to discuss major strategic issues of global significance. In 2006, in addition to issues concerning energy-security, pandemics, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Summit will be focusing on education issues and, in particular, on ways of improving the quality and efficiency of national education and vocational training systems in order to encourage the international business community to increase investments in this sector. A trade union document for submission to the Summit was the subject of a preliminary discussion by participants in the Washington meeting, who devoted considerable attention to education issues.