BERLIN--The World Bank, along with donor countries, aims to set up a reconstruction fund to provide long-term assistance to earthquake-hit Haiti, the bank's president Robert Zoellick said here Friday.

The fund might offer a basis for discussions at an international conference on rebuilding Haiti, which France and the United States want to organize, Zoellick added at a press conference in Berlin.

"This provides an option for the conference that (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy is calling, and some countries might find it more efficient and convenient to contribute through the trust fund," he said.

In addition to the fund, the World Bank has already announced an emergency 100-million-dollar package for Haiti. Germany, meanwhile, has pledged 1.5 million euros (2.2 million dollars) in relief aid.

The reconstruction fund would aim "to coordinate further support from both bilateral and multilateral donors," he added.

The German minister for economic cooperation and development, Dirk Niebel, following talks with Zoellick, stressed the need for "very strong coordination" of long-term aid to Haiti to avoid repeating past mistakes.

He referred to offers from around the world to help southeast Asian countries in the wake of the deadly tsunami in 2004 without much coordination.

Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, was struck Tuesday by a powerful quake that virtually flattened the capital Port-au-Prince.