REGIONAL EFFORTS A USEFUL HALFWAY STEP ON PATH TO INTERNATIONAL AID

FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, SHANGHAI ASIAN SUMMIT TOLD

(Reissued as received.)

SHANGHAI, 23 April (ESCAP) -- Regional efforts to help the least developed countries work their way out of extreme poverty are a useful halfway house between needed global action and the primary responsibility of the least developed countries themselves, UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury said at an Asian summit meeting on economic and social affairs.

Actions taken by some of the more advanced developing countries in Asia on behalf of 14 nations in the Asian and Pacific region categorized as least developed countries were cited by Mr. Chowdhury, the UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

These actions include China’s cancellation or steep reduction of more than $1 billion in debt and tariff-free entry for products from these countries.  Malaysia has provided training in management, agriculture and diplomacy to least developed countries Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar; and countries like India, Republic of Korea and Malaysia are leading sources of investment in Asian least developed countries.

In addition, a new Asian Highway network linking 32 countries, conceived and organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), will be of particular benefit to poorer countries.  Four of the 32 participating nations -– Afghanistan, Bhutan, Laos and Nepal -– are both landlocked and among the least developed.

“Regional development cooperation, particularly in the shape of South-South cooperation, would open up potential opportunities and provide a good framework of international support to the LDCs”, Under-Secretary-General Chowdhury said to a high-level panel discussion at ESCAP’s annual meeting of 62 member countries, held this year in Shanghai.

“Aid alone cannot meet the needs of the least developed countries”, said ESCAP Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su, calling for regional support in areas such as trade, investment and migration and agricultural policies.

A signing ceremony for the Asian Highway Agreement, which is designed to bring into being a 144,000-kilometre overland network, will take place on 26 April, at the opening of the ministerial segment of the ESCAP meeting.

For more information, contact Tim Wall of the Development Section of the UN Department of Public Information, 1-917-517-9210.

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