President Bharrat Jagdeo reported this yesterday at a media briefing on his attendance at the December 5 - 9 Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

"Our dialogue with the more developed partners in the forum elicited greater support for special and differential treatment for weak and vulnerable economies such as ours," he told reporters in the Credentials Room at the Presidential Secretariat, Georgetown.

President Jagdeo said of special interest to Guyana was the conference item on small states which, in the light of globalisation and the recent trade meeting in Cancun, Mexico, "has become urgent."

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders were "especially forceful" in presenting the case for the region's needs, he reported.

"Our advocacy will no doubt help us as we continue our negotiations in the area of trade and economic development, to win greater support and generally, strengthen our position," President Jagdeo added.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is trying to revive deadlocked negotiations on lowering global trade barriers, and its chief, Supachai Panitchpakdi, recently met regional players in Guyana.

The WTO General Council is to meet in Geneva on Monday, when efforts will be made to push negotiations next year to fulfill the requirements of the Doha Round.

World trade ministers had agreed in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 that a final agreement should lower all forms of agricultural export subsidies with a view to eventually phasing them out.

At their most recent meeting last September in Cancun, Mexico, deep divisions between rich and poor countries forced a breakdown in negotiations.

President Jagdeo yesterday said the Commonwealth connection, linking both developed and developing states in a very "close and intimate way", has proved "extremely useful in bridging different interests and concerns."

He noted considerable Commonwealth activity in providing technical assistance to its less developed members.

"Our review of the current programme not only allowed us to assess past performance but to establish priorities for the future," he said of the Nigeria meeting.

Guyana is a beneficiary of several projects under the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation and expects to receive further help toward reaching the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.