"In Hong Kong there is a chance to make decisions that will lift billions of people out of poverty.

Trade can be part of the solution to poverty but at the moment it's part of the problem," Mandela said in a statement.

"Hong Kong is a chance that must not be missed.

The world will be watching," he added, in quotes released by the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), a worldwide anti-poverty coalition.

Trade ministers from the WTO's 149 member countries were converging in Hong Kong to work on a deal to cut tariffs and other barriers to trade that experts say prevent poor countries from gaining access to world markets.

Hopes for a deal at the six-day meeting, which started today, have been low since October after preparatory talks failed to reach a breakthrough on the key area of agriculture subsidies and tariffs.

GCAP said more than 100 of its members would be in Hong Kong to participate in demonstrations scheduled during the WTO ministerial talks.

- Nampa-AFP

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