Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Thursday the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) should play a leading role in supporting the efforts of African nations toward speeding up development.

While receiving newly-appointed ECA Executive Secretary Abdoulie Janneh at his office, Meles said the ECA should provide the necessary assistance for the realization of the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development.

The prime minister said the ECA, the African Development Bank as well as the African Union are essential institutions for the continent's development, according to a senior government official who attended the talks between Meles and Janneh.

Meles recalled that he had been working closely with former ECA executive secretary K.Y. Amoako, and added that Ethiopia would continue to provide the necessary assistance for the works of the UN agency.

Janneh on his part expressed his commitment to further strengthen the existing good relations between Ethiopia and the ECA.

He also told journalists after the talks that he had exchanged views with Meles on the ongoing transformation in Ethiopia.

The UN official said meeting the Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs) is the major challenge facing Africa, adding that all African nations should join hands toward the attainment of the MDGs.

The MDGs, adopted in the millennium UN summit, include a series of concrete objectives in fighting poverty, reducing hunger, expanding primary education, and containing the spread of HIV/AIDS, among others.

The ECA will exert utmost efforts in this aspect, he said.

Janneh, a Gambian, came to the ECA after a 26-year career with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), culminating in his position as assistant secretary-general and director of the UNDP regional bureau for Africa, a post he has held in New York since June 2000.

Source: Xinhua