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General Assembly President stresses job creation and investment in poor countries

General Assembly President stresses job creation and investment in poor countries

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss
The President of the General Assembly Joseph Deiss today expressed hope that the plan of action that will emerge from the United Nations conference on the world’s least developed countries under way in Turkey will include elements for job creation and greater investment in those nations.

In an interview with UN Radio on the sidelines of the Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Istanbul, Turkey, Mr. Deiss exhorted the world to remain keenly engaged in the global effort to combat high levels of poverty in those countries.

“We have to be impatient. We have work faster than possible, knowing that it will take time, that we’ll have drawbacks. But if you are not ambitious, you will not succeed,” said Mr. Deiss.

He said many LDCs were on track to graduate from the LDC category before the effects of the global economic crisis undermined their efforts.

“I think this action plan of Istanbul should restart helping them to come back on this track they were on and create new hopes and also results,” he said.

“Our goal should be that all of them graduate. There should no one country [considered] as least developed country. On the other hand we have also to prepare them to graduate,” Mr. Deiss added.

He said supporting LDCs is not only a question of money, but also partnership. “It is also a case for the LDCs. They have their own homework and this is essentially the institutions. They have to create the framework [so] investments can be profitable… both sides have to do it,” he said.