ALMATY CONFERENCE OPENS WITH AGREEMENT ON ACTION PLAN FOR LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ALMATY CONFERENCE OPENS WITH AGREEMENT ON ACTION PLAN

FOR LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN, 28 August -- The first global conference on issues confronting low-income landlocked countries opened today in Kazakhstan, the world’s largest landlocked country and the one that is furthest from the sea, with a message from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

“This conference is an opportunity for landlocked and transit developing countries and their development partners, including the private sector, to forge strong partnerships and draw much-needed attention to these issues”, Secretary-General Annan said, in a message delivered by the Secretary-General of the Conference, United Nations High Representative Anwarul Chowdhury.

The President of the host country, Nursultan Nazarbaev, told delegates in his inaugural speech that Kazakhstan, located in the heart of Eurasia, “maybe more than any other state feels the need to develop cooperation and is ready for a broad partnership in the area of transportation.  A new global programme to be adopted as a final outcome of this Conference will be an invaluable contribution, in real terms, of the transit transport cooperation between interested States.”

The two statements were preceded by a moment of silence in respect for the United Nations staff and others who died in last week’s explosion at the United Nations facility in Baghdad.

Almaty Programme of Action Agreed

Negotiators from landlocked countries, neighbouring transit access countries and donor nations approved the outcome document of the United Nations conference yesterday, at the conclusion of a three-day Preparatory Committee meeting.

Speaking at today’s plenary, United Nations High Representative Chowdhury placed the Almaty Programme of Action in historic perspective.  “In the past”, he said, “competing interests and even bitter conflict have pitted the landlocked countries against the nations that stood between them and the sea.”

“Today”, he continued, “we have turned competition into cooperation, and opposing interests to complementary ones.  Confronting the difficult questions that have divided these nations, we have produced the first global action plan negotiated at the ministerial level that provides a framework for cooperation between the landlocked and the transit access developing countries.  Better yet, our plan brings into the picture the support of donor nations and international financial institutions.”

“The Almaty Programme of Action provides a strong reinforcement of the internationally recognized right of all countries to enjoy secure access to and from the sea”, he added.  “It establishes the first internationally recognized set of policy measures on reducing red tape and cumbersome procedures, to the benefit of landlocked country exports, while also respecting the rights and prerogatives of the access nations.  It establishes for the first time a principle of compensating the landlocked countries for their geographical handicaps with improved market access and trade facilitation.  Finally, the Programme of Action we have approved today sets the guidelines for and establishes the reasonable anticipation of substantially improved and modernized transportation facilities, encompassing air, rail, highway, ports and pipeline infrastructure.”

Agreement was also reached today on a companion political declaration.  Both the Almaty Programme of Action and the Almaty Declaration will be formally approved on Friday, 29 August, at the conclusion of the International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and the Donor Community on Transit Transport Cooperation.

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: wallt@un.org.

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