 International Ministerial Conference |
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| Implementing the APA |
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Transit Tx Issues
Transit
Transport Issues
and Landlocked Countries |
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Overview |
The “ESCAP region” consists of 62 countries
which are at different stages of economic, social, and political development.
They all have same aspirations – a better life for their people. |
| Of the 30 landlocked countries in the world, 12
are located in Asia. Of these, Afghanistan, Bhutan, the Lao People’s
Democratic Republic and Nepal are least developed countries, while Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are economies
in transition. Each of these landlocked countries is disadvantaged by
its lack of access to and distance from the sea. Dependence on a limited
member of commodities for their export earnings, lack of territorial access
to the sea, and remoteness from world markets make landlocked developing
countries as a group among the poorest of developing countries. |
| Landlocked countries depend on the transit countries
to provide access to sea ports and international markets. In most cases
the transit neighbours of landlocked countries are developing countries,
often of broadly similar economic structure and with problems of their
own, including scarcity of resources. Transit developing countries bear
additional burdens deriving from transit transport and its financial,
infrastructural and social impacts. Transit developing countries are themselves
in need of improvement of technical and administrative arrangements in
their transport, customs and administrative systems to which their landlocked
neighbours are expected to link. |
| Over the years, international attention has focused
on the special situation of landlocked countries. The international community
has recognized and in part addressed some of the constraints faced by
landlocked countries through international legal instruments, for example
the Convention and Statute on Freedom of Transit (1921), the Convention
on Transit Trade of Landlocked States (1965) and the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). |
| International Ministerial Conference
(2003) |
To give appropriate emphasis to the continuing problems
faced by landlocked and transit developing countries, the United Nations
General Assembly decided to convene an International Ministerial Conference
of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and
International Fianancial and Development Institutions on Transit Transport
Cooperation was held at Almaty,
Kazakhstan, from 28 to 29 August 2003. |
The Conference adopted the Almaty
Programme of Action (APA): Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked
Developing Countries within a New Global Framework for Transit Transport
Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries, and the
Almaty
Declaration.
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In order to progress the implementation of the APA
the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries,
Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS)
has in consultation with other UN agencies formulated a Roadmap. |
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