NEGOTIATIONS ON LANDLOCKED ISSUES IN ALMATY AT ‘CRITICAL STAGE’

NEGOTIATIONS ON LANDLOCKED ISSUES IN ALMATY AT ‘CRITICAL STAGE’

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN, 26 August -- A Chairman’s text that attempts to reconcile differences on an action plan for low-income landlocked countries is being presented today to negotiators at a United Nations global conference, according to Under-Secretary-General Anawarul Chowdhury.

“We are reaching a critical stage in the negotiations”, Mr. Chowdhury said at a midday press conference at the conference centre in Almaty.  “We expect engagement between delegations to sort out differences in a number of key areas this afternoon.”

The Almaty Programme of Action is being negotiated in five main parts to address the needs of landlocked nations, according to Mr. Chowdhury, who is the Secretary-General of the International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries on Transit Transport Cooperation.

The Programme covers policy improvements, especially as they relate to cutting costs and travel days in sending exports from landlocked countries to seaports via their transit access neighbours; improved rail, road, air and pipeline infrastructure; international trade measures; technical and financial international assistance; and monitoring and follow-up on agreements, Under-Secretary-General Chowdhury said.

According to Preparatory Committee Chairman Yoshiuki Matamoro (Japan), the most substantial differences in the negotiations revolve around trade issues.  Among some developing countries, there is a reluctance to promote relatively open market access for selected groups of low-income countries with very small export capacities -- such as, for example, landlocked nations -- while developing countries with larger populations and/or greater export potential must contend with higher barriers.

Differences also remain on wording of provisions for increased development assistance for the developing countries.

“It is important to strike a balance among the major stakeholders”, Mr. Matamoro told a United Nations information officer.  Stakeholders in the Conference include the landlocked and the transit access developing countries, donor nations and major international financial institutions.

The second and final preparatory committee meeting for the Conference opened in Almaty on Monday, 25 August.  The International Ministerial Conference itself takes place 28 to 29 August, also in Almaty.

The world’s 30 landlocked developing countries currently expend an average of 15 per cent of export earnings on transport services alone -– for some African landlocked nations, as much as 50 per cent.  Nine of the 12 lowest-ranking countries on the United Nations Human Development Index are landlocked, and economists estimate that landlocked status costs these countries about 0.7 per cent in rate of economic growth each year.

For more information, contact Tim Wall of the United Nations Department of Public Information, Almaty office telephone: 7 3272 59 8189; cell phone: 7 300 799 2241; e-mail: mediainfo@un.org.

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