A record of 47 heads of state and more than 4,000 representatives from 52 of the 54 Commonwealth member states will attend the summit to be officially opened in Durban on November 12.

The two members will not be represented at the summit are Pakistan and Tuvalu, Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku said at a press conference Thursday.

With a theme of "People Centered Development, The Challenge of Globalization", the biennial summit will focus on the transformation of the Commonwealth, poverty elimination, economic globalization, controlling of small arms, children and education in developing countries, the out-going secretary-general said. He said the heads of government will also try to reach consensus approach to World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations in Seattle, the United States, later this year.

On Pakistani issue, Anyaoku said the Commonwealth had had constructive talks with the military regime of the south Asian country.

The Commonwealth would be ready to persuade General Pervvaiz Musharraf to return the state to a civilian government as soon as possible, he said.