BERLIN, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Labor and employment ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) nations agreed on Monday to pay more attention to the social dimension of globalization.

    The ministers pledged at a meeting in Dresden to introduce a stronger social component in their bilateral relations with developing and threshold countries.

    The meeting focused on strategies for more and better jobs, corporate responsibility and improving social protection systems in developing and emerging economies.

    German Labor Minister Franz Muentefering, who hosted the gathering as his country is holding the presidency of the G8, said globalization should bring work and security and not just benefits to the international financial world.

    EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Vladimir Spidla, who attended the meeting, said in an interview that globalization needed to have a just and social dimension.

    "These components do not come out of the blue One has to work for them," he said, adding the G8 nations had a lot of power and possibility to bring this about.

    He urged industry to do more than legally required to improve education, social dialogue and environmental standards, echoing Muentefering's early call for industry to play a role in improving social standards.

    Labor ministers from the G8 nations -- Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United States and Russia attended the meeting.

    Representatives from the EU Commission, the ILO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank were also taking part in the gathering.