(GENEVA) - Top trade negotiators from key rich countries and emerging economies struck a rare note of harmony Saturday, saying they were encouraged on talks about the services sector.

"The process of engagement is continuing, and this process will continue again tomorrow. So I'm optimistic," said Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath after almost five hours of meetings with his counterparts.

He said that the signals were "constructive," and noted that the United States has made some offers.

"There's reasonably good progress on this," he said.

In turn, India has "made a very substantial offer," Nath said.

"It's an offer we've never made. We've opened up many areas, of course it's subject to what we get," he added.

A diplomatic source said that India was willing to let foreign investors hold up to 51 percent of the capital of certain financial services, and 74 percent of express courier services, up from 49 percent currently.

Fellow emerging economy Brazil also welcomed Saturday's session, with Foreign Minister Celso Amorim hailing its "good atmosphere" with "no recriminations."

"Everybody there was speaking about services and trying to be as positive as each one can be without any attempt to spoil the game," he said.

Ministers from more than 35 nations are in Geneva this week in a bid to conclude a global trade pact under the so-called Doha Round.

The talks, launched in the Qatari capital seven years ago, were on the brink of collapse earlier this week before what some described as a "breakthrough" on Friday evening.

The focus turned to the issue of services on Saturday, after sessions earlier in the week which were centred on agriculture and industrial products.

States were called to a "signalling conference" to indicate how far they will open markets in areas such as international telephone calls and the migration of workers, notably information technology consultants.

EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson offered a minimum of 80,000 temporary visas per year for foreign workers in the services sector, the diplomatic source said.

For her part, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab offered to broaden the number of sectors open to foreign workers, following a considerable tightening of US legislation on this issue after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In return, Washington called for other countries to scrap limits on how much of a company's capital can be held by foreigners, the source said.

Pakistan, Canada, Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia and Mexico all said they would be willing to discuss this, the source added.

Mandelson also referred to "some interesting" offers from India and China.

Schwab meanwhile described the session as a "positive step forward," and said that the "vast majority" of her counterparts felt the same.

"Whether it was the developed countries or the developing countries' participants, this conversation about services, the first really that the ministers have had together, was a good step forward, a positive step forward," she said.

Amorim said he raised new proposals on the reinsurance sector and "added-value services" in telecommunications.

Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu told reporters that some industrialised countries made new offers on the so-called "Mode 4," which refers to the migration of workers.

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