Labour’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has called on some of the largest businesses in the world to help meet the Millennium Development Goals.

At the Business call to Action event held in London yesterday, the Prime Minister emphasised that the targets of reducing infant mortality and providing primary education will only be met with "an extraordinary effort".

In the presence of more than 80 CEOs from some of the world’s largest companies and President Kufuor of Ghana and President Kagame of Rwanda the Prime Minister said that the private sector is of "critical importance" in focussing attention on enterprise, on free and fair trade and open markets. Companies can use innovation, specialist skills and technology to deliver solutions in a way that governments cannot, he said.

Gordon Brown said:

"So to every private sector company in the world, in Britain and here in the City of London my message today is: join us. You can make a difference.

"We know that if we can work together to forge a new and far-sighted coalition for change we can ensure that the benefits of globalisation flow not just to the few and fortunate but to every part of our global society."

At the UN in July 2007, the Prime Minister made a Call to Action to governments, businesses, NGOs and faith groups to focus resources and effort on delivering the eight Millennium Development Goals- an internationally agreed set of objectives providing a global framework for development- by 2015.