President Bush is set to travel to Monterrey, Mexico Thursday to attend a U-N development summit on way to reduce the gap between rich and poor countries. 

Mr. Bush will join 50 heads of state gathering in Monterrey. The meeting there began Monday with scores of lower-level politicians and businessmen discussing debt relief, ways to boost economic growth, and strengthen programs to help poor nations. 

The president's trip comes just days after he said he would ask Congress to increase U-S development aid to poor countries by about 30 percent over a three-year period. 

Mr. Bush wants to reward developing countries that reform their economies and encourage free trade. The European Union also has pledged to increase aid. 

On Tuesday, U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the pledges are a sign of growing global agreement on the need for more development assistance. 

He did, however, caution that an increase of 50-billion-dollars per year in worldwide development aid is needed to have any real effect on global poverty. Secretary-General Annan also said developing countries should fight corruption, uphold the rule of law and protect human rights. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP. 

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