BRASILIA, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants leaders of the 20 largest economies meeting in Washington this weekend to relaunch stalled global trade talks, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
Leaders from the so-called G20 group, made up of leading industrialized and developing countries, will meet on Saturday to discuss an overhaul of the global financial system and measures to combat the economic slowdown.
"The president believes more trade opening is one of the best anti-cyclical measures we can adopt, it can be a powerful instrument to combat the crisis," Lula spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said.
Lula believes it is important that the Washington meeting give a new impetus to the talks, Baumbach said in Brasilia.
Key members of the World Trade Organization came close to a breakthrough at a meeting in Geneva in July but failed because of a sharp disagreement between the United States, India and China over details of a mechanism to protect developing countries from a surge in farm imports.
Negotiations have advanced little since July.
The Doha round, which countries agreed to launch seven years ago, had an initial goal of finishing by January 2005.
Lula will travel to Washington on Thursday afternoon after meeting the Pope at the end of four-day visit to Italy.
As a major farm goods exporter, Brazil played a key role in the Doha round, trying to forge a common front with other developing nations.
(Reporting by Raymond Colitt; Editing by Doina Chiacu)