PRESS BRIEFING ON PREPARATIONS FOR LANDLOCKED

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES CONFERENCE

At a Headquarters briefing on preparations for the first global conference aimed at the special problems of landlocked developing countries, Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury told correspondents that of 30 such countries in the world, 13 were in Africa and 16 were classified as least developed.

Mr. Chowdhury, who is High Representative of the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and Secretary-General of the Conference, which will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 28 to 29 August, said such countries paid a huge price for their isolation from seaports and the world market.  Their combined gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for only 0.3 per cent of the world total and they benefited only from about 0.34 per cent of the world’s foreign direct investment.  The Conference would focus on how to:  provide better access to seaports; facilitate the export of their products; improve transit transport systems; and, in general, how to help those countries.

Landlocked developing countries spent 14 to 16 per cent of export earnings on freight, shipment and insurance costs, more then double the price that other developing countries paid, he continued.  In addition, the cost of isolation also manifested itself in cumbersome custom and documentation processes.  He hoped that once the Almaty programme of action had been adopted, landlocked countries, transit countries and donor countries would trilaterally come together to solve the issue of transit transport.

He said a Chairman’s draft outcome document for the Conference had been issued during the first session of the Preparatory Committee meeting at Headquarters this week.  Five priority areas are addressed:  fundamental transit policy issues; infrastructure development; international trade and trade facilitation; international support measures; and implementation, monitoring and review.

Concerning the preparation process, he said that three regional meetings had been held in Latin America, Asia and Africa.  Those regional meetings had contributed to the Preparatory Committee and would undoubtedly contribute to the Conference itself.  This morning, he had signed the host-country agreement with the Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan.  His Office was preparing for the Conference in cooperation with regional commissions, the World Bank and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).  The second and final preparatory meeting will be held in Almaty, 25 to 27 August.

Asked about changes of situation in specific landlocked countries, such as Bolivia and Mongolia, Mr. Chowdhury said that he had attended the Latin American regional meeting and had been impressed at the renewed interest and cooperation on transit issues between Peruvian and Bolivian representatives.  Peru and Bolivia were making progress on the issue, even though problems remained.  The situation of transit transport routes in Mongolia was improving and heading towards a joint agreement between Mongolia, the Russian Federation and China on transit transport systems.

In response to other questions, Mr. Chowdhury explained that the Conference would use a global approach to alleviate the situation for landlocked developing countries based on the five priority areas.  Each of the subregions could then pick the most appropriate priority for their respective regions, situations and specific geography.  A major priority must be to improve roads and accessibility to roads, particularly in Africa.  The increased use of modern information and communications technology was also crucial. 

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