Fostering regional cooperation with transit countries, especially in the field of transport, is crucial if the world’s poorest landlocked nations are to make substantial economic gains, according to a United Nations study released today.
The report, Geography against Development – a case for Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), found that such countries are also being hampered by high transport costs and a lack of investment in their own transport infrastructure.
Co-authored by the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for LLDCs, Anwarul K. Chowdhury, and a senior LLDC programme officer, Sandogdorj Erdenbileg, the study noted that this category of nations is underperforming economically. Although they account for 12.5 per cent of the world’s surface area, these 31 States comprise just two per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
At the report’s launch today, Mr. Chowdhury said coastal developing countries have more than three times the stock of paved roads when compared to LLDCs, as well as substantially lower transport costs.
He said that the so-called Almaty Programme of 2003, named after a ministerial-level conference in the Kazakh city, must serve as a blueprint for closer economic cooperation between LLDCs and their coastal neighbours.