U.N. hopes trade talks will restart before year end

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he hoped the Doha round of global trade negotiations can be restarted by the end of the year, according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.

Marathon talks on a new global trade pact collapsed on Tuesday as the United States and India refused to compromise over a proposal to help poor farmers in the developing world deal with floods of imports.

Ban Ki-moon spoke on Wednesday to World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy on the issue, the statement said, and the two leaders stressed the need to ensure the break in negotiations would not be long.

"They hoped that by regrouping forces, the Doha negotiations could be revitalized before the end of the year," the statement read.

"The Secretary General is convinced that a successful conclusion to the talks was needed to energize international cooperation towards ameliorating conditions for developing countries to derive gains from trade and investment-ledglobalization," it added.

(Reporting by Megan Davies)