Abu Dhabi - A high level meeting of a gathering dubbed "Friends of Pakistan" that aims to support Pakistani's stability and developmental process is to convene in Abu Dhabi on Monday, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

The gathering will be under joint chairmanship of the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

"The Friends of Pakistan" is comprised of 16-nations which include among others Britain, France, Germany, the United States and China plus the United Nations and the European Union. It also includes multilateral financial agencies and world bodies.

Contributors to the gathering regard Pakistan's internal stability as a key to the security and stability of the region. The first meeting of the group was held in September on the margins of the UN General Assembly session.

Assistant Undersecretary of the UAE Foreign Ministry for Political Affairs Dr Tariq Ahmed al-Hayden received on Monday Pakistani Assistant Foreign Minister for South Asia Affairs Etizaz Ahmed Shoderi to prepare for the one-day meeting, WAM said.

The meeting is preliminary and is to set the scene for the meeting of the foreign ministers to be held early next year.

Pakistan's economic needs and financial crisis as well as the means to avert the country's possible economic collapse will be discussed in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani delegation has prepared a list of demands which will be presented to the gathering.

The Pakistani Daily Times newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying Monday that the Pakistani delegation will ask the US to make conditions more favourable for it in the US' Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), by which developing countries receive exemptions from certain rules of the World Trade Organization.

The delegation will also ask the EU to include Pakistan in its GSP. It will also ask the EU and Japan for free trade agreements and broader investment in various sectors.

The Pakistani delegation is also expected to seek 4-5 billion dollars worth of oil on deferred payment from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.

It will also seek investment from the Gulf states in its energy sector and ask Arab countries to relax restrictions on the export of manpower, the Daily Times added.

In return the group is expected to ask Pakistan to undertake serious economic reforms back home. (dpa)