Donors and investors have pledged 3.55 billion dollars for the development of resource-rich but neglected east Sudan, officials said on Thursday at the end of a two-day conference in Kuwait City.

"Total pledges made by participants in the east Sudan donors and investors forum came at 3.55 billion dollars," said Mustafa Osman Ismail, an advisor to the Sudanese president and head of the organising committee.

He however did not clarify if the 1.6 billion dollars pledged by the Khartoum government was included in the total.

Hosts Kuwait topped donors with 500 million dollars while Iran pledged 200 million dollars and the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank pledged 250 million dollars.