The need for international support measures and special attention to LLDCs UN-OHRLLS

1. The need for international support measures and special attention to LLDCs UN-OHRLLS

2. Official Development Assistance (ODA) • ODA to LLDCs more than doubled between 2000-2010, from $11 to $25.1 billion (in real terms) • But 3.2% fall in 2011 (to $25.7 billion) • Remittances growing to $22 billion in 2012 • But reducing high cost of remittances remains key, as well as need to strengthen institutional framework for effective mobilization of remittances for productive purposes

3. Official Development Assistance (ODA) Largest LLDC ODA recipients • Unequal concentration within LLDC group • Top 2 recipients, Afghanistan and Ethiopia, account for 40% • High aid-dependency: 13 LLDCs rely on ODA for at least 20% of the central government expenditure between 2003 and 2010

4. Aid for Trade • Aid for Trade commitments to LLDCs more than doubled from $4.1 billion in 2002-2005 to $8.7 billion in 2010 (in real terms) • A real fall of 17% in 2011 (to $7.7 billion) • Top 3 recipients (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Uganda) account for 40% of the group’s total Aid for Trade

5. Technical Assistance Technical assistance programme • Provides training to enhance LLDCs ability to raise awareness of and analyze multilateral trade agreements and trade issues and effectively participate in WTO negotiations • Technical assistance to LLDCs should be further encouraged in WTO trade negotiations, including market access, services, trade facilitation, investment and regional trade agreements • Technical assistance should be targeted to needs of individual LLDC situation WTO accession • 24 LLDCs are WTO members, 2 joined in 2013, 6 are in accession process • Targeted technical assistance should be provided to acceding LLDCs • Peer-to-peer collaboration to share experiences between existing and acceding WTO members and technical assistance, with support of international organizations and donors

6. Preferential Market Access • LLDCs’ share in world merchandise trade has increased in the latter half of the 2000s, but remains at just 1.2% in 2011 • Duty-free market access by developed countries on imports from LLDCs reached 93% in 2010 (excluding arms and oil), from 70% in 2000 • Developed countries and some more advanced developing countries extend preferential market tariff treatment to LLDCs’ exports under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and special schemes

7. No preferential market access scheme specifically for LLDCs

8. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) FDI has great potential to spur economic growth and development in LLDCs through: • Enhanced financing • Technology transfer • Building of productive capacities • Infrastructure development • Employment creation and improved management techniques

9. FDI inflows grew 24% in 2011 to $34.8 billion, almost four-fold since 2003 • Few resource-rich countries receive most of FDI • Top 5 recipients countries account for 70% of the group’s total • But 12 LLDCs experienced fall in FDI • Majority of FDI to LLDCs is greenfield investments in extractive industries

10. National and international enabling environment • Promote regional integration and cooperation • Boost aid for productive capacity and technical assistance • Create conducive macroeconomic and regulatory framework • Encourage public-private partnerships, particularly for infrastructure investments • Provide financial assistance and insurance guarantees to encourage firms, particularly SMEs investing abroad, through export credits, investment risk protection guarantees, concessional loans, especially for infrastructure projects

11. Benefits of regional integration and cooperation • Increasing economies of scale • Effective participation of LLDCs in the regional integration efforts • Improved regional infrastructure network and completion of missing links: Asian Highway and the Trans-Asian Railway networks, Trans-African Highway, Euro-Asian Transport Links road and rail routes • Regional legal framework, harmonizing of policies and programmes • Ensuring greater intra-regional trade • South-South cooperation, in particular from transit countries, offers potential for increased financial and technical assistance for LLDCs and diversified trade opportunities

12. Growing role of international and regional institutions • UN, regional commissions, multilateral institutions including WTO, World Bank, regional development banks, some sub-regional organizations recognized and mainstreamed APoA • Post-2015 agenda and SDGs need to remain focus on most vulnerable countries, including LLDCs

13. Almaty Unfinished Agenda • But it is unfinished agenda • LLDCs continue to face serious constraints because of their lack of access to sea, remoteness major markets, inadequate transit facilities and services • International community does not fully recognize their special needs and response to address their needs • Almaty is not Programme for LLDCs only, but it is global partnership framework for transit transport cooperation • New programme would offer 3 WINS: Win for the LLDCs, win for the transit neighbours and win for their development partners. This is particularly true in today’s new reality and landscape of international trade • DELIVERABLES AND SPECIFIC ACTIONS?

14. Thank you