Addressing the 13th annual ministerial meeting of G-77 and China here Friday, Foreign Minister Morshed Khan urged the Group to develop a set of guidelines that the developing countries could use for accepting foreign aid from the donors to their own terms.

South African Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma chaired the meeting in her capacity as the Chair of the G-77-and-China lineup. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis were among the key speakers at the event.

Khan in his statement called upon the G-77 bloc of developing and least developed nations to intensify its efforts to gain duty-and quota-free market access for all LDCs, pending decisions on NAMA and agricultural subsidies.

He emphasised the need for reconsidering the "single undertaking" principle to facilitate a WTO agreement on special and differential treatment to the least developed countries.

Khan reiterated his call that the LDCs should be allowed to borrow against their own reserves at zero-interest markups. He congratulated Pakistan on their election as the next Chair of the G-77-plus-China grouping.

The FM also spoke at the Commonwealth ministerial meeting where he apprised the Commonwealth heads of delegation of the progress Bangladesh has made in democracy and good governance. He said that Bangladesh was preparing for the next general election under a neutral, caretaker government.

"While democracy and good governance are necessary conditions, but they are certainly not sufficient to help countries achieve faster economic growth and combat abject poverty," Khan told his audience.

He stressed that duty-free and quota-free market access is an imperative to achieve the necessary growth rates to eradicate poverty.

The foreign minister informed that Bangladesh made considerable advancement in disaster management, which has been acknowledged by the international community as the "best practice" model for other countries to follow.

He thanked the Commonwealth Secretariat for taking immediate follow-up actions on Bangladesh's proposals on comprehensive disaster management.

On the sidelines of UNGA, Khan met his counterpart from Bahrain Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al-Khalifa. The two ministers discussed issues of mutual interest, including the agreement on promotion and protection of investments and agreement on avoidance of double taxation, which are being negotiated by the officials of the two countries.

He also met Foreign Minister of Myanmar Nyan Win and discussed the issues of mutual interest. Syrian Foreign Minister Walim al Moualem met Khan and discussed bilateral issues. The Syrian foreign minister briefed him on recent developments in the Middle East.