..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 15 March 2006
Press Release No: G/05/2006

Least Developed Countries Urge Transparency in AID Efforts

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services)--- The Meeting of the Regional Review on the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 concluded today with LDCS calling on their trading partners to provide bound, duty- and quota-free access to all exports, and to simplify rules of origin.

The Meeting was co- organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Over 60 representatives from 14 of the region's least developed countries (LDCs) attended the Meeting to review their progress towards the attainment of goals of the Programme of Action adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries in Brussels in May 2001.

The Prime Minister of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mr. Bounnhang Vorachith, stated that today about 120 million people in the Asia-Pacific LDCs still live below national poverty line and this number is projected to increase should the international community not muster the necessary political will to fulfill the commitments in the Brussels Programme of Action .

In his statement to the Meeting, Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP said, “In these countries, implementation of macroeconomic policies may be less than effective, owing to human resources and institutional constraints. External sector performance may be erratic, given their reliance on a narrow range of commodities and trading partners. Provision of government services may be limited or costly.” Full implementation of the Programme of Action by both the LDCs and their development partners is critical if these countries are to attain their internationally agreed development goals, Mr. Kim emphasized.

Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, United Nations Under-Secretary General and High Representative for the LDCs stated that during the last half decade, we saw increased benefits of South-South cooperation for LDCs. Some developing countries have become important markets, emerging as significant investors in or suppliers of technology, producers of medicinal drugs and providers of technical assistance as wll as financial aid and debt relief of LDCs.

In adopting the report of the Meeting , representatives from the LDCs also urged their development partners to support their national priorities through consultation and dialogue and to ensure that the country’s efforts to strengthen its capacity are not undermined. The strategies and assistance of the development partners should be transparent, and channeled to prioritized activities benefiting the poor. Aid should be front-loaded so that they meet the targets set by the Millennium Development Goals and the Programme of Action.

Difficulties in compliance with the rules of origin resulted in low utilization rates of the preferential treatment provided by developed countries.

Since safety and security of migrant workers from LDCs are of major concern, these countries urged the ratification of the international convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families (A/RES/45/158), New York, 18 December 1990.

Representatives attending the two-day Meeting also considered how implementation of coherent regional support measures in the areas of financing for development, trade, migration, and technology transfer, environment land security could enable LDCs to attain their internationally agreed development by 2010.

Fourteen LDCs are in the Asia-Pacific region and they are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Please find some more information from this website: http://www.unescap.org/LDCCU/Mid-termReview.asp
For further information, please contact:

David Lazarus, Chief
UN Information Services Bangkok
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1861/66
Fax: +(66-2) 288-1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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