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UNCTAD website on LDCs
Input to the midterm review of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries
UNCTAD has been contributing substantively to follow-up of LDC-III, including drafting a roadmap and a tentative set of indicators for effective implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 (POA). The roadmap and the set of indicators serve as the basic outlines for UNCTAD to operationalize the implementation of the POA within its mandate and competence. It could also be an important starting point for the Office of the High Representative for its UN-wide coordinating and monitoring activities for the implementation of POA.
(i) Contribution to the work of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) and ECOSOC
UNCTAD has participated in and contributed to the CDP's work on the revision of the criteria and methodology for inclusion in and graduation from the UN list of LDCs. In this context, UNCTAD produced various papers. Among them, was a note on the benefits associated with the LDC status and the question of graduation (2001/CRP.5 and Add.1). Bearing in mind its new substantive role regarding LDCs and in response to ECOSOC resolutions 2000/34 and 2001/43, UNCTAD has initiated an analysis of the effective benefits derived from the Least Developed Country status, and of the question of "smooth transition" for graduating countries, which are subjects of particular importance for assessing the impact of international support measures to the LDCs, and for enhancing the capacity of these countries to draw greater benefits from their LDC status.
(ii) ODA and Debt Relief
Analytical work on debt and ODA flows has provided the basis of discussion in the General Assembly and contributed, from a development prospective, to the debate on the pressing needs for providing debt relief for LDCs and the requirements of official capital flows to accelerate development of these countries.
(iii) Contribution to UN-NADAF and NEPAD
The substantive research undertaken by UNCTAD for the preparation of Economic Development in Africa: Performance, prospects and policy issues (2001) contributed to the final review and assessment of the implementation of UN-NADAF. UNCTAD provided to the NEPAD Secretariat two papers: on resource flows and on market access issues of African countries including LDCs. Furthermore, it contributed to G-8 Summit a paper on obstacles to trade and investment in Africa for G-8’s own Plan of Action in support of NEPAD.
(iv) The Impact of FDI on Development
Given the recent decision on trade and investment at the WTO Doha Ministerial, UNCTAD has intensified its efforts to deepen the analysis on the impact on development of FDI policies and investment instruments, giving special attention to the development, trade and financial needs of LDCs. Analysis of the impact of FDI on LDC’s development has been focussed on the contribution of FDI to their trade competitiveness and the enhancement of their supply capacity, as well as to upgrading of technological capacity, including in the service sector.
(v) Least Developed Countries Report 2002
The first part of the Least Developed Countries Report 2002 reviews recent developments in LDCs, including trends in financial flows to these countries and their external trade. The second part of the Report responds to the new challenges set by the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 (POA), in particular the central goal of poverty reduction. Since the internationally comparable data on poverty trends are presently unavailable, the Report seeking to rectify this deficiency by constructing a new data set on poverty in LDCs by combining national accounts and household survey statistics. On this basis, it describes the specificities of poverty in LDCs, and analyses the complex interrelationships between growth and poverty, and the ways in which these are affected by international trade. It pays particular attention to the relationship between commodity dependence and poverty. It also considers the implications of the analysis for making poverty reduction strategies more effective.
(vi) Technical Cooperation
(i) With financial support of a number of donors, UNCTAD assisted in the implementation of POA commitments in the following areas:
· Investment and enterprise development;
· International trade and commodities
· Services infrastructure for development and trade efficiency
· Solution to the debt problems.
(ii) Investments and Enterprise Development
In this field, UNCTAD has provided technical assistance to LDCs in the framework of two programmatic sectors: (1) Attracting investment and benefiting from it and (2) Strengthening enterprises and technology capacity.
(1) Attracting investment and benefiting from it:
This sector includes:
(a) Participation in a multi-agency technical assistance programme (UNCTAD, FIAS, MIGA, UNIDO), to facilitate FDI in the target countries like Cambodia, Mali, Mozambique, UR of Tanzania and Uganda:
(b) Technical assistance to improve the national investment climate by preparing Investment Policy Review (United Republic of Tanzania, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Lesotho, Mauritania, Nepal and Senegal), and by promoting good governance in investment promotion and facilitation (Ethiopia, Lesotho, Maldives, Mali and UR of Tanzania). A workshop on Efficient and Transparent Investment Promotion Practices will take place in Geneva on 6 and 7 June 2002.
(c) Intensive training programme in international investment agreements and negotiating bilateral investment treaties and double taxation treaties. 15 LDCs have participated in different training courses since LDC III. A round of bilateral investment treaties negotiations for a group of LDCs was organized in Bonn, Germany, in October 2001. This event brought together 7 LDCs (Cambodia, Eritrea, Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia) and 5 development partners (Belgium, Luxembourg, France, The Netherlands and Sweden), which resulted in 13 bilateral investment treaties.
(d) Preparing of investment guides, public-private sector dialogue and Investment Advisory Council for LDCs. The investment guides for Uganda and for Mozambique were already published. A number of investment guides will be prepared and published over the next 3 years. A meeting of the UNCTAD/ICC Investment Advisory Council, (IAC) for LDCs was organized, in cooperation with the Global Compact and the governments of Germany and Norway, took place during the UN Finance for Development Conference in Mexico on 20 March 2002. The meeting focused on the role of investment in helping the implementation of NEPAD. The high-level segment of the meeting was chaired by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The President of Senegal, the Prime Minister of Mozambique and Ministers from a number of LDCs participated in the meeting. The event provided an opportunity for business leaders exchanging views and interaction between and government leaders. A number of projects, aimed at improving the investment climate in African LDCs were proposed. Progress on the implementation of these projects will be reported at the next meeting of IAC in Johannesburg in September 2002.
(2) Strengthening enterprises and technology capacity
This sector includes:
(a) UNCTAD Linkages Promotion Programme (with special attention to women entrepreneurs). Project proposals were prepared for Ethiopia and Uganda.
(b) Building productive capacities in LDCs through EMPRETEC. The programme, called Enterprise Uganda, was officially launched in December 2001. A project proposal was prepared and is being discussed for funding purposes with the commission of Portuguese-speaking countries and UNDP for the implementation of EMPRETEC in Portuguese-speaking LDCs.
(vii) International trade and commodities,
LDCs have been provided in (i) diversification of their commodities export base; (2) trade negotiations and commercial diplomacy; (3) trade and competition policy, and (4) trade, environment and development.
Commodities
In this sector, LDCs have been assisted in intensifying horizontal and vertical diversification of their commodities export base and, in particular, the implementation of the project on "capacity building for diversification and commodity based development". The recommendations of the workshops in the framework of this project call for specific activities to be implemented in individual LDCs. In this connection, a workshop on "link between artisan fisheries and world markets" was organized in Gambia in April 2002, and a workshop on horticulture sector development is planned for Guinea in June 2002. UNCTAD has been organizing the African Oil Conference on an annual basis. Most LDCs in Africa have participated in the Conference. The next African Oil conference is planned for September 2002.
Trade Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy
In terms of policy-oriented work on market access issues concerning LDCs, most Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSP) handbooks have been updated since all initiatives in favour of LDCs such as the EU's "Everything But Arms" (EBA), the United States "African Growth and Opportunity Act", (AGOA) have been taken in the framework of the GSP schemes. These updates are disseminated to LDCs and their enterprises, including during national workshops. National seminars on GSP and rules of origin were implemented for several LDCs including Yemen, and Cambodia. Major efforts were made on assisting LDCs in preparing for the negotiations leading to the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar (November 2001), including within the context of capacity building and training technical assistance. This included support to the preparation and organization by the Government of Tanzania the meeting of Ministers responsible for Trade of Least Developed Countries, held in Zanzibar (Tanzania), 22-24 July 2001. The meeting enabled LDCs to submit concrete proposals on issues of interest to them at Doha Conference.
Within the framework of the Commercial Diplomacy programme, training on a number of human resources on trade and trade-related issues have been conducted in which LDCs have benefited. Trade-related technical assistance including capacity building was provided to LDCs in the process of acceding to the WTO: building human capacity training of trade negotiators, workshops on specific issues in the WTO accession negotiations, and providing advisory missions to acceding countries to support their preparations for these negotiations. The main beneficiaries included Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Samoa, Sudan and Yemen.
Trade and Competition Policy
In the area of competition policy, UNCTAD has implemented a capacity building programme on competition law and policy which is tailored to the needs of the LDCs. Activities are designed with the purpose of improving the ability of enterprises in the LDCs to compete effectively, both domestically and in international markets, and make markets work better for the poor. Activities are demand-driven and are implemented for LDCs and their regional integration groupings (which aim at establishing regional competition policy), such as UDEAC or UEMOA. Beneficiaries included: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Malawi, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Viet Nam and Zambia. Support was also provided to LDCs to participate more effectively in multilateral discussions on competition policy. UNCTAD co-organised with the Academy of international law, a one-week intensive course on the International Trading system and its interface with Competition Policy with some thirty participants from the LDCs. Within the framework of a regional TRAINFOR TRADE project, a first experiment on Distance Learning of Training of Trainers on Competition Law and Policy was held for Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali on formulation and on implementation of competition law and policy to train high-level officials from these countries. A one-week intensive course on WTO rules and Competition policy was organised jointly with the University of Geneva (June 2001), in which six LDCs were sponsored by UNCTAD.
Trade, Environment and Development
In this area, a range of activities have already been carried out:
The French version of a TRAINFOR TRADE package has been further developed in cooperation with SOLAGRAL, a French NGO. A training workshop in Burkina Faso (for Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso) was organized. At the request of Haiti and Madagascar, certain topics (in particular in the areas of trading opportunities for organic agriculture and traditional knowledge) are considered in the context of preparations for the respective Integrated Frameworks. The problems of trade and environment were discussed at the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, (CPLP)/UNCTAD Seminar on Technical assistance to the LDCs among the CPLP Countries, held in Geneva. This component of the proposed Trade and Environment Programme for LDCs was discussed with relevant partners in Uganda. These include the Government, Civil Society and the UN system in Uganda, in particular UNDP, FAO, UNIDO and the World Bank. At the invitation of the Government of Cambodia, a mission was undertaken to Cambodia to assess training and other capacity building needs. Discussions were also held with the Government in Nepal.
In the field of services infrastructure for development and trade efficiency, LDCs have been assisted in (1) Human Resources Development and Trade Point Programme, and (2) Transport, trade facilitation and customs.
Human Resources Development and Trade Point Programme
In this Sector, UNCTAD has developed an international network of cooperation grouping universities and institutions of higher learning that are responsible for training in the field of international trade. It has also developed new courses and organized sessions for Training of Trainers, implemented the new Distance Learning Strategy and consolidation of the basis of the Trade Point programme.
In the area of human resource development, UNCTAD organized several workshops within the Trainfor Trade project for strengthening training capacities in the field of international trade for Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. These relate to the following subjects: negotiations on international agreements; multi-modal transport; competition law and policy; trade and environment and investment promotion.
In the port sector (Port Certificate Programme) two regional training of trainers seminar have been organized. The first in Ghent (Belgium) for French-speaking countries of Africa with the participation of Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Guinea and Togo, and the second one in Cape Verde, for the Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique) and Timor.
A first experiment on a distance training cycle was held in November 2001, during four half-days sessions over a period of one month, on e-competition law and Policy. Pedagogic material was specifically prepared for this delivery. It comprised a participant’s manual, user’s guide, a CD-ROM with multimedia presentations, videos and case studies adapted to local situation. Thirty high-level Officials (ten from Benin, ten from Burkina Faso and ten from Mali) were trained simultaneously. This preliminary seminar was followed by a traditional seminar held in Burkina Faso where participants, selected from the previous distance learning exercise, received an in depth training. From 1st October 2001 until 1 march 2002 a pilot exercise was undertaken in Geneva, Marseille, Senegal and Comoros for the delivery of the e-Port Certificate distance learning course to middle managers based in Senegal and Comoros. Trainees were provided with a CD-ROM, user’s guide, the participant’s manual, videos, a day-by-day detailed working plan. Consultations with the Director of studies and the instructors were made through an Internet forum once or twice a week. At the end of the course trainees were to invited present a thesis in Geneva.
Transport, Trade Facilitation and Customs
In this sector, UNCTAD's assistance aims at improving capacity of LDCs to generate efficient trade-supporting services and to benefit from the opportunities generated by the expansion of Electronic Commerce. A number of LDCs, including Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, have been assisted in provision and installation of the Advance Cargo Information System, (ACIS), a transport management tool which tracks cargo and transport equipment on rail, at ports and on rivers and generates transport statistics. In customs reform, national administrations in LDCs (e.g. Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Madagascar, Maldives, Malawi, Nepal, Sao Tome and Principe, Yemen and Zambia) have benefited through the implementation of the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA).
Solution to the debt problems
UNCTAD has promoted effective, development-oriented and durable solutions to the debt problems of LDCs. The Debt Management and Financial Analysis System, (DMFAS) Programme has provided technical assistance in debt management. This assistance includes advice on institutional legal and administrative issues, and training in DMFAS and debt management. 12 LDCs (Angola, Burundi, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Chad, Haiti, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia) have received this assistance from UNCTAD. Another 4 LDCs (Cambodia, Central African Republic, Djibouti and Ethiopia) are in the pipeline for assistance. Most recently, UNCTAD has taken the initiative to develop a post-UN LDC III
Framework for a comprehensive technical cooperation strategy for LDCs. This Framework aims at providing a focused, coordinated and more effective delivery of technical assistance by UNCTAD to these countries.
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