Ayear ago at Gleneagles, Scotland, the Group of Eight leading industrialised economies met in a spirit of hope and generosity. They agreed to attack the problems of poverty in Africa.
That meeting was overshadowed by the murderous attacks on London's rail system by terrorists. Despite this, splendid commitments were made to increase development assistance by direct aid, cancellation of debt and a promise to conclude the Doha development round of trade talks.
Since then, there have been modest increases in real aid and good decisions to cancel debt. But we have seen little movement on opening markets through the trade round - which would return more to poor countries than aid does. Further, it would provide increased growth for developed countries, who are the major importers of goods from poor countries.
The recent G8 meeting in St Petersburg - a great opportunity for Russian President Vladimir Putin to showcase his country as an energy superpower - was sidetracked by Israel's overwhelming response to Hezbollah's attacks.
Apart from the G8, leaders were invited from China, India, Brazil and South Africa, as well as the United Nations, World Bank and World Trade Organisation. It was hoped that this unique grouping would give some direction and impetus to releasing the deadlock of the trade talks.
As director-general of the WTO, I attended a G8 meeting during times of difficulty: I obtained helpful intervention from leaders. This time, WTO director-general Pascal Lamy would have done the same. Leaders agreed to urge several weeks' extension to deadlines and gave the director-general a mandate to push future consultations.
Key ministers from Australia, Brazil, India, China, Japan and the United States have agreed to meet twice in July - here's the best opportunity to make specific progress. But something has to give: in agriculture, the US must make progress on subsidies, and the European Union on market access.