World leaders have ended their five days of talks on how to stop terrorism, resolve international conflicts and ease poverty.
UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan closed the Forum 32nd annual meeting with a warning that the September 11th terrorist attacks have exposed a huge gap between the world's rich and poor.
In remarks to the forum's 2,700 participants, Mr Annan encouraged business and governments to give hope to billions of people struggling to survive in developing countries.
Otherwise, Mr Annan said, the world risks the collapse or relapse of poor nations into conflict and anarchy where they would be "a menace to their neighbours and potentially - as the events of September 11th so brutally reminded us - a threat to global security".
The UN chief urged business leaders to invest in small and poor countries, which taken together represent a large potential market. He also called on governments to double their foreign aid to $100 billion annually.
The closing speech by Mr Annan focused on key themes of the forum, which was moved from the Swiss ski resort of Davos to New York to show solidarity with the city where nearly 3,000 died on September 11th.
At forum, corporate and political leaders, clergy and celebrities discussed the world's problems - spending much of their time examining US foreign policy, its possible role in breeding terrorism and the potential harms of globalisation.
Fears that violence by protesters might mar the forum never materialised. The largest protests were peaceful and attracted as many as 7,000 people on Saturday. Some 200 people were arrested over the forum's five days.
PA