HAVANA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A summit meeting in Cuba in April of the world's developing states will strive to improve their economic cooperation and forge a stronger bargaining position for talks with richer nations, a leading organiser said Monday.
The largest ever gathering of heads of state or government of the 133-member Group of 77 (G-77), the main Third World coalition in the United Nations, will take place on the communist-ruled Caribbean island April 10-14.
``It is hoped the Havana summit will provide a unique opportunity to renew the South's commitment to cooperation,'' Chief Arthur Mbanefo, Nigeria's ambassador to the United Nations and the current chairman of the G-77, told reporters.
Mbanefo, who was in Havana to review preparations for the April summit, said the meeting would seek to forge what he called ``a new economic platform for the South.''
The Havana summit would also discuss themes like the challenge of globalization for the Third World, knowledge and technology and the need for an effective, meaningful dialogue with the industrialised North.
``Such a dialogue is long overdue,'' Mbanefo said.
Developing states, which say they are fighting for fairer trade relations with richer countries, have moved to close ranks since the collapse of world trade talks in the U.S. city of Seattle in December.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Seattle, called to launch a new ``Millennium Round'' of trade talks, ended in acrimony and disagreement between both rich trading powers, especially the United States and Europe, and between developed and developing countries.
Mbanefo said the Cuban government had so far received confirmation from the leaders of 25 G-77 that they would be attending the Havana meeting. ``We expect that at least 60 heads of state will be here,'' he added.
14:42 02-07-00
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