South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday that the Doha round of talks at the World Trade Organization must succeed but not at the expense of developed nations.

The president made the statement at a media briefing at the conclusion of two-day Progressive Governance Summit held over the weekend at Didimala Game Lodge, north of Pretoria.

"We are very much in favor of free trade because it is the world engine that is spreading wealth," Mbeki said.

"It is in the interest of progressives that developing countries be empowered to develop but also that the developed world continue to grow," he added.

The WTO talks were one of the major talking points at the summit, which was attended by heads of state including President of the Republic of Korea Roh Noo-Hyun and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil as well as Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Helen Clark of New Zealand, Goran Persson of Sweden and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

Source: Xinhua