Almaty Programme of Action - 2003

In 2003, a conference was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan to adopt a programme of action to address the unique challenges that LLDCs face: The International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and International Financial and Development Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation. 
 
The Ministerial Conference was the first of its kind and provided the international community with the opportunity to galvanize international solidarity and partnership in support of LLDCs. At its conclusion, the Ministerial Conference adopted the Almaty Programme of Action and the Almaty Ministerial Declaration. The overarching goal of the Almaty Programme of Action is to forge partnerships to overcome the specific problems of LLDCs that result from their lack of territorial access to the sea and their remoteness and isolation from world markets. Their geographical positioning has contributed to their relative poverty and substantially inflates their transportation costs as well as lowers their effective participation in international trade.