Urging a long-term strategy of stepped-up diversification for Asia, the UN's Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) also said the developed world should not to take protectionist measures to support their economies at the expense of developing nations.

Steps also had to be taken to ensure the Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations are a success, officials said at the release of the agency's annual Trade and Development Report in Bangkok.

The study said the East and South Asian region was well established as a "new growth pole" for the world economy, mostly because of progress achieved by India and China.

UNCTAD issued its report on the same day Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Harukiko Kuroda said China and India will help pull the rest of Asia to forecast average growth of 6.5 percent this year. He said the growth may even pick up further in 2006 and 2007.

Speaking in Singapore, Kuroda cautioned, however, that surging oil prices -- which hovered near 70 dollars a barrel Friday afternoon in Asia -- remained an uncertainty and could scupper the growth projections.

While rapid growth by China and India has been a key cause of a recent surge in primary commodity prices, "growing imports by China and India will not be enough to reverse a long-term decline in real commodity prices," the UNCTAD report said.

"The windfall profits being reaped by many developing countries as a result of surging economic growth in India and China should be used to diversify those countries' economies and prepare them for more stable economic development in the future," it said in a statement.