Haiti's government can lead efforts to rebuild the country in the wake of its devastating¹ earthquake, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has said.

海地总理让·马克斯·贝勒里夫称，海地政府有能力领导地震灾后重建工作。

But Mr Bellerive told a meeting of world officials in the Canadian city of Montreal蒙特利尔 that "massive support" from the international community was needed.

The Montreal meeting was held to assess the aid effort and plan the next steps.

The delegates代表 agreed to hold an international donors²' conference at the UN headquarters in New York in March.

But Canadian Prime Stephen Harper warned that it would take a decade to rebuild Haiti.

"It was not an exaggeration夸张 to say that at least 10 years of hard work awaits the world in Haiti," Mr Harper said.

It is believed the 7.0 magnitude quake on 12 January killed as many as 200,000 people. An estimated 1.5 million people have been left homeless.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending the conference along with delegates from 20 countries and representatives from the UN and the World Bank.

'Vital needs'

"The Haitian government is working in precarious危险的，不确定的 conditions but it can provide the leadership that people expect," Mr Bellerive said.

"The top priority当务之急 right now is to satisfy the vital needs of victims, like food and water, shelter and health care."

He added: "Haiti needs the massive support of its partners in the international community in the medium and long term. The extent of在……的范围内 the task requires that we do more, that we do better and, without a doubt, that we work differently."

Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon⁴ welcomed the US offer to host an international donors' conference in March.

"We now have the beginnings of a road map toward Haiti's long-term reconstruction⁵ and a clear and sustained持久的，持续的 commitment to follow through坚持到底," Mr Cannon was quoted as saying by French news agency AFP.

Mr Cannon said one goal was to "physically⁶ get the Haitian government back on its feet".

The quake destroyed key government buildings, including the National Palace.