The Department for Inter-national Development (DFID), in collaboration with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, is organising the conference styled 'Asia 2015: Promoting Growth, Ending Poverty', says a press release.

High-level international figures, including ministers of finance and planning, senior officials, members of civil society and private sector from across Asia will discuss the changing face of development in Asia over the next decade at the conference.

The Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn MP said, "The world has a lot to learn from Asia's development successes."

Asia still faces many major challenges, which need the world's support, Benn said adding that if the global community addresses such challenges now, in a generation, poverty eradication in Asia could be one of the world's great success stories.

Asia has raised more people out of poverty than any other region at any time in history. Growth has been strong, and although currently two out of three of the world's poorest people live in Asia, by 2005 this could fall to one in three if current trends continue, the release added.

With continued efforts, it is possible to eradicate poverty in Asia in the next generation. Yet Asia still faces huge challenges in nutrition, health, education, social exclusion, water and sanitation and almost 1.1 billion people still live on less than $1 a day.

Rapid growth in Asia has and will continue to have an enormous impact on the global economy. Markets such as China and India are undergoing tremendous economic and social development. Trade within the continent is growing at nearly three times the global rate and Asia's share of world exports rose from 23 percent in 1985 to 38 percent in 2002.

The aim of the two-day event is to agree on how Asian countries, together with development agencies and the international community, will meet the remaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The conference will raise the profile of both development challenges and opportunities and offers a platform for Asian countries to present and talk about their own experiences and perspectives.