Turkey's foreign minister said on Friday that Turkey would continue to be the voice of least developed countries (LDC)s.

Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey had been the voice of LDCs, and would continue to be so.

"I am happy and proud that the Istanbul Conference has become a milestone in solution of problems of leased developed countries," Davutoglu told a joint press conference with United Nations (UN) under-secretary general and high representative for least developed, landlocked and small island developing states Cheick Sidi Diarra in Istanbul.

The press conference took place on the last day of the Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries in Istanbul.

Davutoglu said the Istanbul action plan had showed the will of the international community, and the large number of participation indicated the importance the international community was attaching to these countries.

The foreign minister said the main aim of the conference was to create a global consciousness, and defined the Istanbul Declaration as a comprehensive document including the steps to be taken by both LDCs and international community till 2020.

The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) begun on Monday at Istanbul's Lutfi Kirdar Congress Center.

Some 10 thousand guests including ministers, parliamentarians, representatives of private sector, scientists and members of non-governmental organizations from 192 UN-member countries attended the conference.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly Joseph Deiss, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President Bamir Topi of Albania, President Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran, President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Prime Minister Yves Leterme of Belgium, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Nikoloz Gilauri of Georgia were among guests of the conference.

The conference brought together nearly 50 heads of state and government, 10 vice-presidents, 94 ministers and chairmen of 47 international organizations in Istanbul.

There are 48 least developed countries in the world with a population of nearly 900 million. These countries are struggling against chronical structural problems in their economy, development and human resources. There are 33 African, 14 Pacifician and a Latin American states among those countries.

AA