Developing states ask for more say in global economy

DOHA, Friday (Reuters) - Developing countries appealed to rich nations to give them more of a say in economic decisions and said sharing wealth and technology was the best recipe for a fairer, more stable world.

Representatives of 132 nations gathered in Qatar ratified the Doha Declaration urging the United Nations to decide concrete steps towards fairer trade and minimum help from industrialised countries at its general assembly in September.

Five years ago the United Nations set a target to halve by 2015 the number of people living on less than a dollar a day, halt the spread of HIV/AIDS and ensure universal primary education.

But Kenyan Foreign Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere said very little had been achieved since then.

"We need the cooperation of the developing world or we will all sink together," Mwakwere told Reuters.

At their summit in the wealthy Gulf state, the G-77 group of countries demanded immediate steps to tame volatile commodity prices, which play havoc with governments trying to budget for improvements in health and education.

And they said a target for rich countries to devote 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to development aid, a goal opposed by the United States, should finally be enacted.

Delegates took heart from Saturday's decision by the powerful G-8 group of developed countries to forgive $40 billion of debt owed by 18 of the poorest states.

"It's a good signal from the G-8 on debt cancellation," said Surakiart Sathirathai, Thai deputy prime minister and a leading candidate to replace Kofi Annan as secretary general of the United Nations. "At the same time we cannot just sit still."

Delegates refused to reveal any concrete deals between the diplomats who thronged the vast halls and corridors of Doha's luxury seaside Sheraton Hotel.

But several said they had never seen such a concerted effort to seek strength in numbers.

"People seem prepared to make sure this summit is not a talking shop and will achieve concrete action so the millennium goals can be achieved," Thailand's Surakiart told Reuters.