Istanbul: World leaders meet to try to develop a 10-year plan to help poor countries

The leaders of the 48 least developed countries in the world, those of donor countries and international organizations and institutions of importance (including the European Commission and World Bank) meet in Istanbul on Monday under the aegis of a UN summit to form a new plan helping the poorest countries on the planet in the next 10 years, announced Monday. At the opening ceremony of the Summit which will take 5 days were present European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

Following the summit talks, it wants to establish "measures to build infrastructure for the poorest countries before they reach a self-sufficient economy, fight poverty and create decent jobs, " stated representatives of UN summit opening site.

Another hot topic on the agenda will be to raise food prices, social unrest and political power.

The summit is taking part representatives of the least developed countries (33 in Africa, 14 from Asia, plus Haiti). These countries have a population of 645 million people, expected to double by 2050.

UN conference on this theme occurs every 10 years. This is the fourth such conference, the first three being hosted by France (1981 and 1990) and Brussels (in 2001).