Mr.
Chairman,
Honorable
Ministers,
Distinguished
Chairmen of NAM & G77
Distinguished
delegates,
Allow
me at the outset to convey to you the warm greetings of
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his best wishes for the
success of this meeting. I have the pleasure to add my own
greetings to all of you. I am confident that under your
wise and experienced chairmanship, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister,
the meeting will be an important step forward for concerted
action for landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) during
the 59th session of the UN General Assembly and beyond.
Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to your great
country, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and its Permanent
Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Alounkeo
Kittikhoun for continuing to provide effective and committed
leadership to the LLDCs
A year
has now passed since the landmark International Ministerial
Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries
in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Almaty was a key event in the effort
towards the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals
as articulated clearly in Goal 8. It sought to tackle the
marginalization of landlocked developing countries (LLDCs)
from the international trading system due to high trade
transaction costs caused by landlockedness and remoteness
from major world markets. In discussing trade barriers affecting
over 30 countries worldwide, Almaty reflected the increased
importance the international community now attaches to LLDCs.
The
Almaty Programme of Action laid out a framework for specific
action in five priority areas: fundamental transit policy
issues, infrastructure development and maintenance, international
trade and trade facilitation, international support measures,
and implementation and review. It is widely recognized that
the Almaty Programme is well-focused and balanced. Its implementation
is considered feasible and measurable. International determination
to deal with the special needs of LLDCs was further enhanced
during the 58th Session of the General Assembly.
Mr.
Chairman,
At the
Almaty Conference, the international community entrusted
the United Nations Office of the High Representative with
an important mandate to ensure the effective implementation
of the Almaty Programme. It is a major addition to the mandate
and functions of the Office because when the Office was
established by the UN General Assembly, LLDCs - unlike LDCs
and SIDS - did not have a UN mandated programme of action.
Now, thanks to the Almaty Programme of Action, LLDCs not
only enjoy a special agenda at the United Nations, my Office
has been mandated also to coordinate actions for the implementation
of the Almaty Programme of Action. It is through such contributions
that the spirit of international co-operation in the effort
to assist LLDCs - clearly manifested at Almaty - thrives.
This
year we set in motion the implementation of the Almaty Programme
of Action. Attention was given to mobilizing awareness and
operationalizing coordination and monitoring mechanism for
the effective implementation of the Programme. One of the
main achievements in this regard has been the adoption of
the road map towards the implementation of the Almaty Progarmme
of Action with a view to providing guidance to the United
Nations agencies and other international, regional and sub-regional
stakeholders in assisting landlocked developing countries.
In February I invited the relevant regional, sub-regional
and international organizations to an inter-agency meeting
to consider the road map. At the meeting it was agreed that
the kind of broad-based participatory approach, so successful
in leading to Almaty, would be adopted for the follow-up
process. Private sector and professional organizations are
essential partners in this process. The inter-agency meeting
endorsed the road map. The road map identified areas that
would require immediate action. These included the identification
of major "missing links'' in Africa, Asia and Latin
America and the creation of subregional priority projects
to develop infrastructure and facilitate trade. LLDCs were
encouraged to establish national trade facilitation boards
with a view towards garnering international support for
trade facilitation. And, promoting the accession to international
conventions on transit and transport trade was initiated.
Mr.
Chairman,
In addition
to what my Office is doing, the Almaty Programme of Action
is being implemented through a number of important initiatives
worldwide. Let me briefly list some of them here. One of
the concrete achievements to follow up Almaty was the Intergovernmental
Agreement on the Asian Highway Network signed in Shanghai,
China last April. The agreement is the first of its kind
to have been developed under the auspices of the UN Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP).
It will establish the alignment, standards and signage for
the Asian Highway Network to enhance transport links for
LLDCs in the region. This covers 140,000 kilometres of highways
extending to the 32 countries, including 12 LLDCs, in the
Asian Highway Network.
The
UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) has been making
a valuable contribution towards the implementation of the
Almaty Programme through the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport
Policy Programme. Working within a long-term framework,
the Transport Policy Programme has adopted an action plan
for transit transport facilitation. The action plan allows
for the observation of abnormal practices along transit
corridors; port security audits; port facilitation; road
safety; harmonization of transit transport documents; and
capacity-building for transport planning specialists. The
Economic Commission for Africa also organised a meeting
on multimodal transport development in Africa, in which
the Almaty Programme of Action was discussed further.
The
World Bank is working towards supporting the Almaty Programme
of Action by collaborating with the World Customs Organization
to streamline customs procedures. It is also running a number
of projects aimed towards improving infrastructure and streamlining
transit arrangements. The Northern Corridor Transport Improvement
Project seeks to give Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo access to the Kenyan section
of the corridor. In West Africa, the World Bank, the Economic
Community of West African States and the West African Economic
and Monetary Union are preparing a transport project to
improve road conditions, facilitate border-crossing operations,
and implement inter-regional transit agreements.
The
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
has been active in assisting LLDCs through its analytical
work and technical cooperation arms. UNCTAD is working on
three pilot projects to design and implement regional solutions
in selected transport corridors in Latin America, Africa
and Asia. These are a few examples. I would not want to
dwell further on these activities since they have been addressed
in the report of the Secretary-General to the current UNGA
session, a copy of which is included in the information
kit distributed here.
Mr.
Chairman,
Two
recent major developments pertaining to the international
development agenda are of significance to the needs of the
LLDCs. At UNCTAD XI in Sao Paulo, member States recognized
the need to address the drawbacks of globalization as well
as to embrace its advantages. In this regard, the Sao Paulo
consensus called for special consideration to be given to
the small, vulnerable developing economies, including landlocked
developing countries.
In Geneva
last month the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a
breakthrough on agricultural subsidies and so-called Singapore
issues that were hindering progress in launching the new
round of trade negotiations. As it was called for in the
Almaty Programme of Action, the current negotiations on
market access for agricultural and non-agricultural goods
should give particular attention to products of special
interest to LLDCs. I am pleased to report to you that in
my recent discussions with senior trade officials from developed
countries, including the European Union, the need for such
consideration found growing understanding and support. This
is a major advance in the international perception of landlocked
developing countries. Landlocked developing countries need
to formulate an effective common strategy to press their
case for preferential access to markets. In this regard,
I strongly support the initiative taken by your Group in
Sao Paulo to convene a meeting of LLDC Ministers with a
view to elaborating on your common position on this matter.
We are pleased that the Chair of that ministerial meeting
Foreign Minister of Paraguay Madame Leila Rachid de Cowles
is amongst us today.
It is
also an encouraging development that trade facilitation
will be included in the next round of trade talks. The importance
of trade facilitation must be stressed because it is the
key to the solution of the problems facing LLDCs. Under-developed
infrastructure, time-consuming customs procedures, logistical
problems generated by transport regulations and additional
border crossings -- all these increase transaction costs
for both importers and exporters, although LLDCs tend to
be commodity exporters. Such trade barriers are detrimental
to the domestic economy, inflating the price of imported
goods and diminishing the competitiveness of exporters in
the global economy. LLDCs cannot remedy these problems on
their own because they rely on other countries for trade
facilitation. LLDCs have to actively participate in negotiations
on trade facilitation. They are in great need of technical
assistance in this area.
Mr.
Chairman,
The
59th Session of the General Assembly has so far seen the
2004 Treaty Event on International Conventions Applicable
to Transit Transport Co-operation, which sought to streamline,
simplify and standardize trade rules and procedures in an
effort to reduce transit costs. However, it is my understanding
that so far LLDCs have not participated as actively as was
hoped. We will continue this effort in future and all LLDCs
are encouraged to sign the treaties. Looking beyond the
59th Session, the Office of the High Representative is planning
a meeting on the "Role of regional and sub-regional
organizations for the implementation of the Almaty Programme
of Action" to agree on specific projects and deliverables
as well as on main indicators for measuring the progress.
But
for now it must be emphasized that the present session of
the General Assembly is of crucial importance to LLDCs because
it marks the General Assembly's first consideration of the
implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action. The General
Assembly deliberations should result in a substantive resolution
towards enhancing the implementation of Almaty in order
to overcome the difficulties confronting LLDCs. I am aware
that the LLDCs will work very hard and in a concerted manner
to provide direction for further action.
Let
us hope that the spirit of co-operation that flowered at
Almaty last year is further carried forward during the 59th
Session of the UN General Assembly for the benefit of all
LLDCs.
I thank
you very much for your attention and I wish you every success
in your deliberations.
