Dubai: The World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) on September 24 said they would ask governments including India for their views on how to carry forward multilateral trade talks after the collapse of the Cancun summit in Mexico.

Summing up the discussions at the annual World Bank IMF meetings in Dubai, World Bank President James Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director H Kohler said the world economy is looking up and there was general agreement that the spirit of multilateralism needs to be redeemed.

They said the governments would be asked to respond to the reports prepared by the IMF and the WB on the strategies to bolster multilateralism.

Both the chiefs stressed the need to enhance the contribution by donor countries and hoped it will be forthcoming. "What is important is that there was recognition that the developing countries, the developed countries and the emerging markets are all in the same boat and there was need for multilateral cooperation and better balance," Kohler said.

Commenting on the demand made by the developing countries to increase their say in the world bodies through greater voting power, he said there was a need for better representation among shareholders from the developing countries and the developed countries have noted this demand.

On the linkages between trade and aid, Wolfensohn said there was a need to address this question with urgency "the voice of the developing countries and developed countries has to be more equal", he said.

PTI