Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf left Cairo Wednesday to attend the G8 summit in Deauville, France, Thursday. Sharaf will be accompanied by Fayza Abul-Naga, minister of international cooperation, and Samir Radwan, minister of finance. The Egyptian delegation will explore the possibility of gaining support from the G8 for the Egyptian economy, to help its recovery after the January 25 Revolution.

Sources close to the Egyptian cabinet said that the prime minister will assure in his intervention at the summit that Egypt is keen to continue its free market policy, to encourage the private sector to create new projects, and that it will facilitate investment procedures. Sharaf will also underline the government's keenness to achieve social justice, to respect the needs of classes with limited income, and to guarantee workers’ rights.

Sharaf will hold meetings with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his prime minister, Francois Fillon, on the fringes of the summit.

US President Barack Obama and other world leaders will gather at the summit, which is likely to focus on Japan's nuclear crisis and popular uprisings in Arab states, as well as global economic issues.