PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday urged member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to help promote multilateralism in the global arena.

    "The future of the developing countries, indeed, the entire world, lies best in an international order that is based on active multilateralism," Badawi said in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the NAM Coordinating Bureau (NAM-CoB) Ministerial Meeting here.

    He called on the 114-strong movement to use the leverage of its large membership and rise to actions to "help refashion the international system that would best protect, preserve, and promote our (the developing countries) collective interests within the essential framework of multilateralism."

    Such an international system should guarantee equitable rights and benefits for all countries, not just a few, stressed Badawi, who is also the current chairman of the 45-year-old NAM.

    About 90 member countries of the movement sent delegates for the ministerial meeting themed "Towards a More Dynamic and Cohesive NAM: Challenges of the 21st Century" in the Malaysian administrative center of Putrajaya.

    During the two-day meeting, representatives will review current developments and the implementation of decisions of the 13th NAM Summit.

    More importantly, they will make preparations for the upcoming 14th NAM Summit, or to be more precise, the 14th Conference of the Heads of States of the NAM to be held in Havana, Cuba, this September.

    The United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan also sent a message to the NAM ministerial meeting, which was delivered by his representative earlier at the opening ceremony. Enditem