news.bbc.co.uk Sunday, 26 January, 2003, 17:45 GMT By Stephen Cviic BBC regional analyst

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called for the creation of a global anti-poverty fund.

He told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he hoped his idea would win support from the G-7 group of rich countries.

Brazil cannot continue to be a sleeping giant

The presence in Davos of Brazil's first left-wing president for 40 years is being seen as highly significant because of his ability to build bridges with the anti-globalisation movement.

Just a year ago, Lula da Silva was the leader of Brazil's left-wing opposition, a man regarded with suspicion by international financiers and a regular presence at the anti-globalisation movement's answer to Davos - the World Social Forum.

Since then, he has seen his status transformed, first by his election victory and later by the markets' realisation that the new Brazilian government intends to pursue orthodox economic policies.

Lula's decision to go to Davos this year after an appearance at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre was criticised by some left-wingers in his own party.

But in his speech, he said he made no apologies, adding that there was no point in talking only to the people you already agreed with.

Fair share for all

Lula's speech emphasised a common global agenda directed at achieving growth alongside better income distribution and social conditions.

He called for developed countries to share scientific and technological advances with poorer nations and proposed the creation of a global anti-poverty fund.

And he had harsh words for what he called the protectionism of rich countries, saying that they preached but did not practice free trade.

In what has already become a theme of his one-month-old presidency, Lula stressed that Brazil intended to play a more active role in world affairs.

It could, he said, no longer be a sleeping giant.

www.guardian.co.uk Sunday January 26, 2003 5:40 PM

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) - To applause and cheers, Brazil's new leftist president appeared Sunday before the elite economic conference he once scorned and called for a massive drive to defeat poverty and hunger across the globe.

``My greatest desire is that the hope that has overcome fear in my country will also help vanquish it around the world,'' Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told a hundreds of delegates at the World Economic Forum, an annual meeting of corporate and political leaders.

``I would like to invite all of you that are here, on this 'Magic Mountain' of Davos, to look at the world with other eyes,'' he said, in a reference to the classic novel by Thomas Mann set in Davos.

He said called for Western governments and big investors to create a global fund to fight poverty and hunger around the world.

Countries are spending billions and billions of dollars in an arms race and spending money on things that are not priorities,'' Silva said. We look at the third world countries and millions and millions of women and children die because they don't manage to eat the calories they need.''

Silva said he was bringing with him the same message that he gave on Friday to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, billed as a grass-roots counterpoint to the Davos event.

Joking with the crowd after his address, the charismatic former revolutionary said ``the most fantastic thing'' was that he was going back to Porto Alegre in one piece.

My comrades will notice that you haven't taken a bite out of me,'' he said. Nor have I taken a bite out of you. I think there is room for us to get together to talk.''

The son of a poor farmer, Silva dropped out of school to help support his family and became a symbol of hope for Latin America's impoverished millions after his landslide election in October.

Silva said he saw no reason why participants at the World Economic Forum and the World Social Forum could not come together to learn from each other.

This is like a simple negotiation between a labor unionist and an employer,'' he said. Once they sit at the bargaining table, we can see there are many topics that can be improved so we can reach an agreement,'' he said.

Silva also called on rich nations to open up their markets to imports from poorer nations.

``All the export effort that we make will be useless if countries continue to preach free trade on one side and practice protectionism on the other side,'' he said.

Other events at the World Economic Forum on Sunday:

• U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that without strong international action to disarm, Iraq could use its lethal weapons or share its technology with terrorists. ``The nexus of tyrants and terror, of terrorists and weapons of mass terror, is the greatest danger of our age,'' he said.

• Powell indicated that the United States is willing to take additional steps to respond to North Korea's concerns about a possible U.S. military attack. He reaffirmed that the United States has no intention of attacking North Korea and said it is prepared to ``convey this in a way that will make this unmistakable to North Korea.''

• Powell urged India and Pakistan to ``both take risks for peace'' and end years of tension and distrust. Powell said the United States had helped calm tensions last year when the nuclear-armed rivals came close to war over disputed Kashmir and an attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001, and said Washington was ready to do more.

• Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced a $200 million grant Sunday to help identify and solve the ``grand challenges in global health'' - including the AIDS virus and malaria - that the private sector has little financial incentive to tackle.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.26.03, 2:11 PM ET

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is expected to announce in the coming days that it will target a public sector primary surplus of above 4 percent of GDP this year in its latest move to build confidence among investors.

Local media reported on Sunday that Brazilian Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles told economists at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Brazil would target a surplus above the 3.75 percent of gross domestic product it had agreed on with the International Monetary Fund.

That new target, at least three newspapers said, should be higher than 4 percent.

Shying away from details, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci told reporters Brazil would target a fiscal surplus that would guarantee its ability to continue making payments on its heavy, $260 billion public debt.

"Independent of our agreement with the IMF, the country is interested in planning its debt payments so that there are no doubts over its sustainability," Palocci said.

Investors battered Brazilian financial markets last year, worried the center-left administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would mismanage the country's debt.

But repeated reassurances by Lula and his economic team that they will keep spending and inflation under control have helped rebuild confidence in Brazil's economy, which is Latin America's largest. Any increase in the surplus target should only further bolster the growing optimism, economists say.

Brazil is expected to have closed 2002 with a primary surplus of about 4 percent, above the 3.88 percent it agreed on with the IMF in last year's $30 billion aid package. The surplus target excludes debt payments.

Reuters, 01.26.03, 2:11 PM ET

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is expected to announce in the coming days that it will target a public sector primary surplus of above 4 percent of GDP this year in its latest move to build confidence among investors.

Local media reported on Sunday that Brazilian Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles told economists at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Brazil would target a surplus above the 3.75 percent of gross domestic product it had agreed on with the International Monetary Fund.

That new target, at least three newspapers said, should be higher than 4 percent.

Shying away from details, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci told reporters Brazil would target a fiscal surplus that would guarantee its ability to continue making payments on its heavy, $260 billion public debt.

"Independent of our agreement with the IMF, the country is interested in planning its debt payments so that there are no doubts over its sustainability," Palocci said.

Investors battered Brazilian financial markets last year, worried the center-left administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would mismanage the country's debt.

But repeated reassurances by Lula and his economic team that they will keep spending and inflation under control have helped rebuild confidence in Brazil's economy, which is Latin America's largest. Any increase in the surplus target should only further bolster the growing optimism, economists say.

Brazil is expected to have closed 2002 with a primary surplus of about 4 percent, above the 3.88 percent it agreed on with the IMF in last year's $30 billion aid package. The surplus target excludes debt payments.

www.nzherald.co.nz 27.01.2003 8.45 am

DAVOS, Switzerland - Boogeying poolside was out, bashing America was in at this year's Davos business summit as angst over war and recession drove out the traditional strut and swagger of the global elite.

The World Economic Forum's six-day annual meeting returned to the chic Swiss ski resort after decamping to New York last year for the first time in three decades to embrace a city still reeling from the September 11 suicide plane attacks.

But this year it was hard to hear a kind word about a United States now viewed with distrust and scepticism, especially over the superpower's threats of war against Iraq if it fails to come clean over any weapons of mass destruction.

"It's very worrying that the Americans could be prepared to act unilaterally. They are playing a very risky game," Simon Maxwell, head of Britain's Overseas Development Institute think tank, said, echoing a common theme in Davos.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell faced pointed questions from the audience yesterday after a keynote address telling sceptical Europeans the United States was willing to attack Iraq alone if others shrank from disarming President Saddam Hussein.

The theme of this year's meeting was "Building Trust", and surveys of WEF members bore out a lack of confidence worldwide in US leadership. One panel discussion was entitled "US omnipotence: What lies ahead?".

Gone are the days when American businessmen and policymakers showed up at Davos to teach European and Japanese laggards lessons about corporate and economic policy management.

"The feeling of confrontation against the US was very strong, absolutely too strong for my taste," said Peter Brabeck, chief executive of Nestle SA, the world's biggest food company and a veteran of Davos meetings.

"The anti-Americanism is profound," agreed former US State Department official Stuart Eizenstat.

"There used to be disputes between Europe and the US about trade, about bananas, but now we're being accused of trampling on the institutions that we've created."

No Calypso band jammed on a floating stage in the Davos conference centre's pool this year because organisers axed the customary Saturday night black tie and evening gown soiree.

"A big party is not appropriate at this monent. It doesn't fit the mood," WEF founder and guiding light Klaus Schwab said.

There were plenty of long faces among the 1,000 corporate chieftains and two dozen heads of state or government on hand for the 33rd annual WEF gathering that runs until Tuesday.

The mood was definitely downbeat ahead of a looming war in Iraq and with the world stuck in a stubborn economic slump.

"This is just about the hardest year to forecast and it's difficult to be anything but gloomy," sighed British American Tobacco Plc Chairman Martin Broughton.

WEF Managing Director Jose Maria Figueres said the subdued tone was "as it should be. That is the global mood. Davos in that respect is a reflection of what our members and different stakeholders are feeling. I think it's a very healthy change."

Missing are many of the lavish corporate flings that once filled posh Davos hotels every night. Flaunting wealth and power -- once a hallmark of Davos -- made way for a more introspective mood.

A youth orchestra played for delegates on Saturday night -- a slot normally reserved for a raucous do that went on until dawn.

"Before a potential war and addressing pretty serious issues, it's time to focus and not to dance," WEF spokesman Michel Ogrizek said.

The WEF reduced the sprawling attendance list by about 30 per cent to 2000 to make things more intimate. Several of the European ministers who had been due to attend, notably from France, Germany and Spain, dropped out at the last minute.

After the dotcom crash of 2001 and the corporate malfeasance scandals of 2002, many of the past capitalist gurus of Davos were missing.

But Brazil's new leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva added a dash of colour, joking that he could head home physically intact despite venturing into a capitalist hotbed.