Stockholm - Delegates from more than 90 countries gathered Thursday amid tight security for a one-day UN-Iraq meeting aimed at discussing progress on reconciliation and nation-building in Iraq.

Iraq and the United Nations were to co-chair a follow-up meeting hosted by Sweden of the International Compact for Iraq (ICI) that was launched a year ago at a summit in Egypt.

Dignitaries expected to address the summit included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki along with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

On the eve of the conference, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Aldabbagh told reporters that since the launch of the ICI process Baghdad had made efforts to promote "national reconciliation, good governance, revenue sharing and building of institutions."

Efforts were underway to agree on a date for local elections that were part of plans to decentralize power and he also cited improvements in the overall security situation in Iraq.

Al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials were Friday to hold bilateral meetings with Swedish officials and discuss the needs for investments in Iraq's infrastructure. (dpa)