United Nations: Chief executive officers (CEOs) of corporations and companies from around the world have pledged to fight corruption and graft and to integrate environment and social concerns in business practices.

The pledge was made during the day-long "summit" of Global Compact, an initiative by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan which brings businesses in diverse fields together to consider ways to promote good corporate practices in Human Rights, labour and environment.

But several non-Government groups were not pleased with the initiative and criticised Annan, saying it could lead to increasing corporate influence in UN which, they contend, would be detrimental for the world body.

More than 400 CEOs, Government officials and civil society leaders attended the day-long meet and interacted with each other at several roundtables and discussions.

At the end of the day, the "summit" adopted a simple statement that "business should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery".

Other pledges made included defending Human Rights in conflict zones, ensuring decent working conditions and implementing "no-bribery" policies.

The Global Compact, which was established in 2000, promotes standards for Human Rights, labour, environmental and starting this year, anti-corruption standards. Some 1,500 companies have signed the voluntary agreement from 70 countries, roughly half from developing nations.