STATEMENT BY MR KIM HAK-SU, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

TO THE THIRD UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Brussels, 14 May 2001

Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to address you at this Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.

As Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, I would like to begin my statement by introducing you to the least developed countries in our region.

Of the 49 least developed countries, 13 are located in the Asia and Pacific region. These least developed countries, account for over 37 per cent of population and 46 per cent of the GNP of all least developed countries. These countries are quite diverse and varied in terms of population and economic size, natural resources, institutional capacity as well as geography.

Afghanistan, Bhutan, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Nepal are landlocked while Kiribati, Maldives, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are island developing countries. As economies in transition, Cambodia and Lao People's Democratic Republic are undertaking structural changes as they continue to implement market-oriented reforms. Some of the least developed countries, as in the case of Bangladesh, are relatively large and densely populated, while others, like those in the Pacific, are small, with a widely dispersed population, extremely vulnerable to the natural conditions and away from the major growth centres.

As you are aware, the Paris Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s emanated a decade ago from the Second United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries. During this period, the economic and social performance of the least developed countries of the region has varied significantly. The average annual growth rates of their GDP through the 1990s range from around 2 per cent in some of the Pacific island countries to over 7 per cent in the Maldives. Average life expectancy at birth also varies considerably from 50 in Bhutan to 68 in Vanuatu. During the past decade, Cambodia and Solomon Islands joined this list of least developed countries in 1991, while the status of Maldives and Vanuatu underwent periodic reviews.

Since our region covers nearly half of the globe, I hope you can appreciate why these countries, located in South Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific region, form a very diverse group of countries and their recent experiences have correspondingly varied significantly.

As mandated in the Programme of Action, the Commission established the Special Body on Least Developed and Landlocked Developing Countries, which meets once in every two years, to review- economic and social developments in the least developed countries at the regional-level. Over the decade, the Special Body conducted a mid-term review of the Paris Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the1990s as well as regional reviews on institutional capacity, development assistance, transport and trade in least developed countries of Asia and the Pacific. During the fifty-fourth session of the Commission, it was decided that the fifth session of the Special Body would conduct a regional review of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s and formulate recommendations to address the challenges facing these countries in preparation to the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.

In line with this decision, the secretariat prepared three subregional studies which identified social issues, infrastructure, trade and finance for development as primary issues affecting least developed countries of the region. Copies of these subregional studies, as well as the regional overview which consolidates the experiences of these countries, are available for your perusal.

To formulate tangible recommendations to address these issues, we conducted a regional highlevel preparatory meeting on the Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the 1990s hosted by the Government of Bangladesh in Dhaka in November last year in collaboration with UNCTAD and UNDP. During this meeting, participants from least developed countries and their development partners suggested a number of practical measures which could be undertaken both by least developed countries themselves and by the international community to address these issues. The substantive conclusions and recommendations from the regional high-level meeting were then considered for endorsement by the Special Body on Least Developed Countries at its fifth session in February this year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

While least developed countries of the region as a whole have made significant progress in several economic and social fronts during the past decade, such progress has been uneven. Moreover, the progress achieved so far has rested on the fragile foundation of a narrow economic base, an undiversified export structure and a high degree of vulnerability to external shocks. Improved market access is also critical. Problems concerning tariff escalation and tariff peaks still continue to hamper the best efforts of least developed countries to diversify their exports. The recent European Union initiative to grant duty- and quota-free access to all exports of LDCs except arms, is indeed a very welcome development, but more needs to be done by major trading partners of LDCs. As the United Nations Secretary-General stressed in his message to the 57`" session of the Commission last month, probably no greater change would make a greater contribution to the battle in reducing the world of abject and dehumanizing poverty than market access changes. In this regard, I believe that implementation of the multi-year programmes under the integrated framework for trade-related technical assistance would make an important contribution, and it is my hope that we will see this process moving forward.

The 57`" session of the Commission in Bangkok last month noted with concern that the development goals stipulated in the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s remained largely unmet. The Commission recommended that the new Programme of Action from this conference should address the new predicaments with a fresh approach and understanding in order to improve economic and social conditions in the LDCs. Financing for development from official and private sources is essential in order to fill the gaps between investment needs and domestic savings, government expenditure and revenue, and import requirements and export receipts.

The recommendations, as endorsed by the Special Body, comprise the regional position of the least developed countries of Asia and the Pacific for the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries [which is before you]. Some of the recommendations contained in our regional position are applicable to the least developed countries in other regions as well, I would therefore like to request the high-level country representatives and other distinguished participants who are with us to carefully consider how the effectiveness of these recommendations could be strengthened and incorporated into the Programme of Action of the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in my opinion, the accomplishment of this conference lies not only in adopting a new programme of action here in Brussels but more importantly, I believe, it is the implementation of the seven commitments contained in the programme of action at the country level which will determine the success. In this context; I am pleased to inform you that my organization (ESCAP) is planning to initiate a detailed multi-year project on the "Indicators of Implementation and Monitoring of the Programme of Action for Asia and the Pacific LDCs" in collaboration with the national governments and other broad stakeholders. A project proposal as a deliverable to this conference has already been submitted to the LDC-III secretariat for consideration.

ESCAP is examining ways to more effectively implement the Millennium Summit commitments. In this context, ESCAP's programme will be given greater focus to three primary themes - poverty alleviation, strengthening the weakening positions of developing countries in the context of the quickening pace of globalization and the emerging social issues such as migration, trafficking of women and disabled people.

Ladies and Gentlemen, finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of the least developed countries in the Asia and Pacific region for their various contributions to the regional position for this Conference. I wish you every success in your deliberations during this Conference.

Thank you.