The energy meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) said safety of access to energy directly determines the state of the world economy and people's lives.

The two-day G8 energy ministerial meeting called for dialogue among supplier and consumer countries, according to its chairman's statement released on Thursday.

"Reliable energy supply plays a key role in the development of the world's economies bearing in mind that the well-being, way and quality of life of people directly depend on access to energy," the statement said.

Russia has declared energy security the No. 1 issue for its first G8 presidency this year.

Ministers stress the importance of further development and strengthening of dialogue among energy producers and transit and consumer countries. They also called for information exchanges on the current situation, as well as medium and long-term plans and programs for the development of their respective energy sectors.

The G8 Group is an unofficial forum of the heads of the leading industrialized countries (Russia, the U.S., Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Canada and Italy).

A successful first presidency of the G8 is one of Russia's foreign policy priorities. Priority issues during Russia's G8 Presidency will be international energy security, the fight against contagious diseases and education.

Source: Xinhua