Economic and social development is not conceivable without overcoming poverty, a Swiss development expert has said.

Martin Dahinden, the head of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, said solving poverty means integrating developing countries better into the global economy.

To do that, they need more room to manoeuvre within institutions such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation.

Development prospects also depend on global change; the current financial crisis showed that barriers are needed under globalisation, Dahinden said.

Debt relief will play a major role in aiding poorer countries, too.

According to the agency a fifth of the world's population lives in absolute poverty.

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