ADDIS ABABA: A long-awaited meeting of ministers to agree on the outlines of a new global trade deal is likely to take place by the end of next month, the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said yesterday.

The comments by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy confirmed that the meeting would be delayed because of longer-than-expected negotiations on the technical aspects of the deal.

But they added to growing hopes that an outline deal in the Doha round, launched in late 2001 to boost the world economy and help poor countries export more, could be done soon.

"I would be surprised if I needed the ministers in town before the end of this month," Lamy said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if the meeting happened by the end of next month."

Lamy, speaking on the sidelines of a conference of African Union trade and finance ministers in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said negotiations in Geneva were moving "day to day, night to night".

Major food exporting and importing countries are wrangling in Geneva over the details of a scheme to shield politically sensitive farm products from the full force of tariff cuts.