ANN GLOAG, the transport tycoon, is to meet the wives of the world’s most powerful men during next week’s G8 summit at the Gleneagles hotel.

The Stagecoach founder, one of Britain’s wealthiest women with an estimated £400m fortune, has been invited by Downing Street aides to dine with Cherie Blair, Laura Bush, and Ludmila Putin at the five-star venue.

Gloag, 62, will host an informal lunch to discuss her charity work in countries such as India, Kenya and Malawi, where she has donated millions of pounds for medical equipment and research.

She will also explain her involvement with Mercy Ships — an international charity that uses hospital ships to deliver aid to poverty-stricken regions.

Gloag, who trained as a nurse, is one of four “opinion-formers” chosen to discuss world poverty, a key theme of this year’s summit.

They also include Dr Dorothy Logie, a Scots aid worker who has been providing medical care and support to people in some of the poorest parts of Africa. In 2001, her husband, Sandy, also a doctor, died after being infected with HIV after a needle used on a dying patient jabbed his finger.

Kumi Naidoo, the South African member of the United Nation’s panel of eminent persons and chair of Global Call to Action against Poverty — an alliance of millions of people and organisations across the world — also will attend.

Dr Josephine Munthali, a Malawian currently living in Edinburgh who works for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, has also been invited to the lunch, one of many events for the wives of world leaders.

Other highlights include a day-trip to Glamis castle, the childhood home of the late Queen Mother; an environmental awards ceremony staged by Scottish schoolchildren; and a performance by a troupe of Highland dancers.

Gloag is one of Britain’s biggest charity donors. In 2000, she raised more than £300,000 by organising a party on the luxury yacht Highlander, with Princess Anne as the guest of honour. In 2003, Gloag gave more than £1m to a variety of causes.

Recipients have included the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Malawi, Thomas Bernardo in Kenya and the Velegma Leprosy Mission in Bidda, India.

Last month, she donated £40,000 at a charity ball in Glasgow, organised by Tom Hunter, the Scots entrepreneur, which also was attended by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, the organisers of Live 8.

Mercy Ships, a charity launched in 1978, is one of Gloag’s top priorities. In 2001, she worked on board the 11,000-ton Anastasis during its trip to Benin in west Africa to deliver aid.

The group has delivered more than £15m of medical equipment, hospital supplies and medicines, and built about 350 schools, clinics, orphanages and water wells.

“Ann is delighted at being invited,” said a source close to Gleneagles. “It’s not an official presentation, it’s an informal lunch; the invite is to come along and have a chat and things will develop from there. She has so much experience in Africa, and that’s why she’s been invited — to share those experiences.”

The summit will see world leaders including George Bush, Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac tackling issues such as climate change and poverty in Third World countries.

They will be joined by the heads of state from China, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and India on Thursday for an extended round of talks on global climate issues.

A spokeswoman for Downing Street, said: “It’s traditional to have a spouse’s programme for all G8 summits. We wouldn’t comment on the details at this stage.”

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