JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called at the Earth Summit Sunday, September 1, 2002, for corporate giants to invest in developing countries, saying it was in their interest to help the fight against abject poverty.

Annan told a business forum that since the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago, big companies came to realize that if they sought to survive in a "sometimes hostile global economy," they had to respond to social and environmental challenges, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We now understand that both business and society stand to benefit from working together," he said.

"And more and more we realize that it is only by mobilizing the corporate sector that we can make significant progress."

The forum gathered some 700 delegates, including the heads of multinational corporations, where the mood was one of bridge-building.

Big business has been fiercely attacked by activists, who say its drive for profit can be catastrophic for the environment and for vulnerable people in poor countries.

Activists further accused the rich people of coming to South Africa “just to talk and show off”, unmindful of the real problems of the world’s poorest people.

"Mobilizing business investment which is sustainable and produces positive results - both for the societies and the investing companies - is essential if the least developed countries are to escape their desperate poverty trap," Annan said.

The one-day forum was told that only five percent of the total foreign direct investment in the world went to the 40 least developed countries.

Annan hailed the Johannesburg summit as "historic" saying, "I hope, working in partnership, we can make the planet what it ought to be."

In the past, he said, many companies viewed controlling pollution and greenhouse gases as burdensome costs.

Today, however, "there is broad recognition of the fact that corporate pollution involves high costs and wastage for business itself."

Meanwhile, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for free trade and open markets to alleviate poverty and help save the environment.

Rasmussen, whose country currently chairs the European Union, said the developed world should help the have-nots by "giving them access to our markets".

"When trade advances, poverty, retreats," he said. "Economic growth is the key to both eradication of poverty and to a better environment.

"Increased free trade and market access is the key to achieving this," Rasmussen told the representatives of 200 of the world's most powerful companies including petroleum giant Shell, car manufacturer Toyota, and mobile phone-maker Ericsson.

For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien stressed the importance of so-called partnerships between governments, companies and non-governmental organizations to achieve sustainable development.

Promoting these public-private tie-ups is one of the goals of the Earth Summit, but it is viewed warily by green campaigners.

However, Chretien said the public should be reassured.

"People understand the power of partnerships," he said. "Given the breadth of the challenge posed by sustainable development, it just makes good sense to pool the resources, ideas and imagination of all sectors of society.

Mark Moody-Stuart, who chairs a lobby group, Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD) and who also acts as an advisor to Annan, said global businesses should clearly state their commitment to sustainable development and the measures they would embrace to meet this goal.

"The first step is a real public statement of support to sustainable development" and a clear policy on how exactly each business would fulfill the objective, he said.