G8 Summit: UK to Direct Talks to Tax, Trade And Transparency Issues [VIDEO]

The UK will try to achieve action on issues of tax, trade and transparency on the second day of the G8 summit, as the country takes advantage of its presidency of the meeting.

Having placed the issues at the top of the agenda, Britain believes that achieving change on them is critical for growth, prosperity and economic development across the world.

The G8 group of leading industrialised nations, comprising of the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Canada and Japan, is meeting in Northern Ireland.

Following a number of cases whereby foreign companies operating in the UK are taking advantage of tax havens to avoid corporate taxes, the country wants to ensure tax compliance inside the G8 group and across the globe. Prime Minister David Cameron said earlier that he is committed to making "fighting the scourge of tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance a priority".

Britain will also call for advancing trade as another priority in the meeting.

On Monday, the US and the European Union (EU) initiated talks on what could be the "biggest bilateral trade deal in history". The planned deal would add €119bn (£100bn; $160bn) to the EU economy and €95bn for the US, according to the EU.

In addition, the talks will also focus on promoting greater transparency about ownership of companies and land as well as money flow.

Monday's meetings were dominated by talks over the conflict in Syria, and Russian President Vladimir Putin was isolated by other leaders who pressurised him to withdraw his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

If the discussions over Syria are extended on Tuesday, that would disappoint Cameron who plans to use the meeting to battle tax evasion. That was in addition to the existing opposition from other world leaders to his most ambitious plans.

While the plans are supported by most of the G8 nations, they are yet to receive the backing from Russia, the US and Canada.

Chancellor George Osborne is due to make an appearance at the summit on Tuesday morning to explain the technical aspects of Britain's proposals.