UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday called for genuine market access opportunities for developing countries and a rapid termination of trade-distorting subsidies for agriculture in the developed states.

Addressing a high-level meeting on economic issues hosted by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at UN Headquarters in New York, Annan said that rich countries should take "bold measures" to facilitate a successful conclusion of the currently stalled Doha trade talks.

"Developing countries need genuine market access opportunities for their goods and services, and the least developed countries should enjoy duty-free and quota-free access for theirs," he said.

"It is also time for trade-distorting subsidies for agriculture to be eliminated, and to do so rapidly for sensitive products," the secretary-general added.

The secretary-general's remarks were heard by finance and development ministers and high-level officials of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, along with representatives of the 54-member Economic and Social Council.

Consultations between ECOSOC and the main finance and trade institutions covered a range of issues, including national strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), debt relief, and the development efforts and finance needs of middle-income developing countries.

Source: Xinhua