PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES CONFERENCE TO MEET, 23-27 JUNE

The first session of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and the Donor Community on Transit Transport will take place at Headquarters from 23 to 27 June.

To be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 28-29 August, the Conference will be the first global event to address specific needs and problems of landlocked developing countries, i.e. countries without access to seas.  Taking place at the ministerial level, the meeting’s objective is to negotiate systemic improvements for those countries through cooperation with transit nations –- those situated between landlocked countries and the seas -- donors and multilateral agencies.  Conference deliberations are going to focus on freedom of access to the sea; infrastructure development; efficiency of transit operations; and international support measures for landlocked States.

As part of the first preparatory session, a high-level panel discussion will take place on Tuesday, 24 June, focusing on transit transportation systems and the impact of geographical disadvantages on the socio-economic development of landlocked developing countries.  Studies indicate that those countries pay a high price for their geographical situation.  Distance from major international markets, lack of sovereign access to the sea, cumbersome transit procedures and inadequate transport infrastructure add costs to external trade transactions that sometimes exceed the value of products themselves. 

For the past decade, growth of the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in landlocked countries was even slower than in nations designated as least developed countries.  Nine of the 12 countries with the lowest rankings in the 2002 Human Development Index are landlocked.

The panel will be moderated by Under-Secretary-General, High Representative of the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and Secretary-General of the Conference, Anwarul K. Chowdhury.  Professor Jeffrey Sachs will be the keynote speaker, and the panel will include Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Hafiz Pasha; Director of the World Bank’s Department of Transport John Flora; and Director of Infrastructure Development, COMESA, Amos Marawa.

The preparatory session is also expected to take up organizational matters, including election of the Bureau and the format of the Conference, and begin consideration of the draft final outcome document of the meeting.  The Secretary-General of the Conference will present the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the state of preparations for the Conference, including the outcomes of the regional preparatory meetings in Africa, Asia and the Latin America.

Regarding the composition of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee, the General Assembly in its resolution 57/242 decided it would consist of 10 Member States elected on the basis of equitable geographical representation.  Also, it was made clear to the Secretary-General of the Ministerial Conference, during his consultations after the adoption of the resolution, that the bureau of the Ministerial Conference should have equal representation from landlocked, transit and donor countries.

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