Bandung, July 30: Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri today urged Asian and African countries to act together to overcome problems facing poor countries that she blamed on inequalities in international economic relations. Megawati said at the start of a two-day meeting of ministers from the two regions that poverty, food shortages and environmental degradation in poor countries were ``new forms of domination by most of the developed countries over their former colonies.''

``Globalization ... Has not delivered on the promise of benefits to poor nations,'' she told around 400 delegates.
The meeting took place in the same conference hall where the first Asia-African Conference was held 48 years ago an event that led to the birth of the non-aligned movement, which today groups 116 mainly developing nations.
Adding to the nostalgia, Megawati spoke in front of life-size diorama showing the movement's founders, including her father, Indonesia's first president Sukarno. Successive speakers urged delegates to ``revitalize the sprit of Bandung.''
Indonesia which has always been one of the most active members of the movement is hoping this week's meeting will help revitalize ties between the two continents in the run-up to a summit in Bandung in 2005 marking the 50th anniversary of the inaugural conference. Bureau Report