Big business ignores poor at their peril: Annan

Updated: 11:54, Tuesday, 5 February 2002

The UN Secretary General has warned business leaders that they ignore the billions of poor people in the world at their peril.

Kofi Annan, Called for investment in health and education Kofi Annan, Called for investment in health and education

The UN Secretary General has warned business leaders that they ignore the billions of poor people in the world at their peril. Kofi Annan was speaking at close of the World Economic Forum in New York.

Mr Annan said that the global elite and globalisation were seen by many as the causes of extreme poverty and degradation around the world.

He called for investment in health and education in the many small and poor countries, which, if left alone, were likely to collapse or relapse into conflict and anarchy. This, he said, could represent a threat to global security, as the events of 11 September showed.

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