Kathmandu, Nov 6,2014: The second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) concluded Wednesday afternoon with the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and the Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA) for LLDCs for the decade 2014-24.
The VPoA, the successor programme of action of the Almaty Programme of Action, 2003 (APoA), had outlined specific actions to be undertaken by LLDCs, transit countries and development partners under six different priority areas as-Â fundamental transit policy issues, infrastructure development and maintenance, international trade and trade facilitation, regional integration and cooperation, structural economic transformation, and means of implementation.
Similarly, the new Programme of Action focused on structural economic transformation and means of implementation while highlighting the importance of renewed and strengthened partnerships for its full and effective implementation. It has also acknowledged disproportionate impacts of climate change and other new and emerging challenges facing LLDCs while stressing on the need of building resilience to help these countries confront such challenges.
According to a press release from the Foreign Ministry, the overarching goal of the new Programme of Action is to address the special development needs and challenges of LLDCs arising from landlockedness, remoteness and geographical constraints in a more coherent manner and thus contribute to an enhanced rate of sustainable and inclusive growth, thereby contributing to the eradication of poverty by moving towards the goal of ending extreme poverty.
Earlier in the morning, Minister for Commerce and Supplies and a member of the Nepali delegation to the Second UN Conference on LLDCs, Sunil BahadurThapa, delivered a key note address at the thematic roundtable on ‘Harnessing International Trade and Investment for LLDCs Development and Facilitating Transit and Transport’ .
On the occasion, Minister Thapa emphasized on the necessity for more enhanced level of foreign direct investment, and called for a mechanism to encourage transnational companies to explore the possibility of prioritizing investment in LLDCs in the areas of infrastructure and productive sectors that create employment, generate exports and encourage optimum use of local resources.
He was also a panelist in a separate programme organized by the WTO Enhanced Integrated Framework Secretariat.
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