By DAVID THURBER / Associated Press Writer
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday that an upcoming major U.N. conference should launch a new debate on how world trade can be made free and fair.
The weeklong U.N. Conference on Trade and Development opens Saturday, bringing together thousands of officials from 180 countries and organizations. It is the first major trade forum since World Trade Organization talks collapsed in Seattle two months ago because of deep divisions over trade liberalization.
Critics of the WTO, which sets world trade rules, say rich countries have profited far more than poor ones from current free trade agreements and that workers have often lost their job security.
Annan met with Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai of host country Thailand on Thursday and expressed hope that poor nations can be heard "clearly and fairly" at the meeting, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said.
Annan said the meeting would be "all-important" in setting the direction of the global economy, Surin said.
The U.N. conference, which meets every four years and focuses on promoting trade as a tool of development, does not come up with binding agreements. But it offers a chance for developing countries to press for a greater say in global trade arrangements.
December's WTO conference in Seattle failed to reach agreement on a new trade round and ended in acrimony, with activists fighting police on the streets. The 135-nation WTO is perceived to be controlled by rich countries. Some African nations were so upset at being excluded from key negotiating sessions in Seattle that they threatened to walk out.
In an address to members of parliaments from 50 countries, Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi -- who becomes WTO director-general in 2002 -- said the international community must act quickly to ensure that poor countries benefit from globalization.
"A backlash against the process of globalization has been gaining momentum," Supachai said, citing the Seattle riots and unrest during a recent World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Thailand has implemented heavy security for the conference, spurred by two hostage-taking sieges since October involving rebels from neighboring Myanmar. Activists are vowing to leave a park that authorities have set aside for protests and defy police lines Saturday to demonstrate in front of the conference hall.:
