Workshop in Kathmandu focused on expanding productive abilities, reducing poverty in Asian and Pacific least developed countries
Kathmandu, 28 March 2011 - The Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and the Secretary-General of UNCTAD closed a three-day workshop here by calling for revised approaches and greater international commitment to jump-starting economies and reducing poverty in the world´s 49 poorest nations.
Bharat Mohan Adhikali, Deputy Prime Minister and also Nepal´s Minister for Commerce and Supplies, said further progress is needed from the international community in tackling the effects of climate change and food security in least developed countries (LDCs). Both he and UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi stressed the importance of the upcoming Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV), which will take place 9-13 May in Istanbul, Turkey. The 22-24 March Kathmandu workshop focused on "productive capacities, economic growth, and poverty reduction in Asian and Pacific LDCs".
Mr. Supachai told the meeting that ways must be found at the global summit to improve the transfer of useful technology to LDCs and to help them diversify their economies so that they are less dependent on limited ranges of goods and less vulnerable to shocks in the world economy. The ability to produce a broader variety of goods, and goods of greater complexity and value, is referred to as "expanding productive capacity," and has been advocated by UNCTAD for several years as a way out of the boom-bust cycles and persistent poverty that have characterized LDCs for years. Such an approach to sustainable economic growth is the focus of the organization´s call for a New International Development Architecture (NIDA) for LDCs, unveiled in UNCTAD´s Least Developed Countries Report 2010. The NIDA was discussed in detail at the Kathmandu workshop.
Mr. Supachai urged that the NIDA "be promoted strongly" at the LDC summit and also said LDC governments should strive to fulfill a role as "development States," in which they help to generate outcomes from LDC-IV that give them ownership of international strategies intended to spur economic growth and improve living conditions for their populations.
Charles Gore, UNCTAD Special Coordinator for Cross-Sectoral Issues of the organization´s Division for Africa, LDCs, and Special Programmes, told the closing session of the workshop that LDCs should adopt a form of good governance which delivers economic development outcomes. In particular, they should seek to promote improvement of their productive capacities and achieve greater economic diversification - what UNCTAD calls "development governance." He also noted that LDCs need to increase agricultural productivity.
And Purushottam Ojha, Secretary of Nepal´s Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, said the LDC summit should address gaps in knowledge and infrastructure that affect LDC economies.
There are 14 LDCs in the Asia-Pacific region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao People´s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Yemen.
