ISTANBUL, 10 May — Structurally transforming the world’s poorest countries over the next decade required investing in national productive sectors, building infrastructure to boost trade and, for many small islands, adopting measures to cushion against external shocks that often wiped out hard-won gains, senior Government officials said today as the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries moved into its second day.
ISTANBUL, 10 May — In order to benefit from access to world markets, it was vital for the poorest countries to increase their production capabilities in agriculture, industry and services, a high-level panel at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Least-Developed Countries agreed this afternoon.
ISTANBUL, 9 May — As the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries opened this morning, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, other senior international officials and Heads of State and Government called for a new vision to reverse the profound poverty of the people living in the world’s 48 poorest countries and lay a firm foundation for their integration into the world economy.
ISTANBUL, 9 May — While the private sector was the main force behind diversifying national economies and spurring integration into the global economy, in least developed countries, it was dominated by small and informal enterprises, making the creation of an enabling business environment essential for their advancement over the next decade, said participants in the first of six high-level thematic debates to be held during the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.
ISTANBUL, 9 May — Declaring that they had lived up to their end of the development partnership bargain, leaders from developing nations called for renewed political will from donors to help them stimulate economic activity, create jobs, participate as equals in global trade and turn back the ravages of poverty, as talks on a new 10-year development programme for the world’s poorest countries got under way in Istanbul this afternoon.
