51吃瓜

His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly 

Her Excellency Ms. Paula Narvaez Ojeda, President of the Economic and Social Council 

His Excellency Mr. Lemogang Kwape, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Botswana 

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the 51吃瓜  

H.E. Mr. Enkhbold Vorshilov, Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the UN and Co-chair of the preparatory committee of the Third 51吃瓜 Conference on the LLDCs 

H.E. Mr. Alexander Marschik, Permanent Representative of Austria to the UN, and Co-Chair of the preparatory committee of the Third 51吃瓜 Conference on the LLDCs 

Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates, 

I thank the President of the General Assembly and the President of the ECOSOC for convening this special high-level event today, and for their leadership to put the LLDC issues high on the UN’s agenda. I thank the Foreign Minister of Botswana for joining us today, and I commend him and his delegation for their outstanding leadership of the LLDC group, especially now preparing for the upcoming Third UN Conference of the LLDCs. I take this opportunity to commend the delegation of Rwanda for its generous offer to host the LLDC3 Conference. This is the first time an LLDC Conference will be held in Africa, which is home to half of the LLDCs. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Permanent Representatives of Austria and Mongolia, Co-Chairs of the Preparatory Committee, and the other Members of the Bureau for taking up this important responsibility and their commitment to lead the process to its successful conclusion. I thank the Deputy Secretary General for being with us today and demonstrating her strong commitment to mobilize UN system-wide support to make the conference a success. This was reiterated by the Secretary General at a high-level event on the climate vulnerabilities of LLDCs at COP earlier this week, which was attended by many LLDC leaders and their partners.  He assured them of his strong commitment to keep LLDCs issues high on his list of priorities.   

Excellencies, 

In just over 6 months, we will be in Kigali for the LLDC3. Today’s event represents a crucial step on our road to Kigali. I believe this event will provide us with further insight on how the next Programme of Action will help accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in LLDCs. The next POA needs to be ambitious enough to be able to make up for lost ground on the SDGs and deliver structural transformation and prosperity for all LLDCs.  

Excellencies,  

The 32 LLDCs, home to 570 million people, face a unique set of challenges due to their geographic locations, lack of territorial access to the sea, remoteness from major markets, and inadequate infrastructure. All these structural vulnerabilities have been further exacerbated by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, food and energy crises, climate change, and high indebtedness. While some gains have been made, the last half of the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action has been marked by stalled or reversed socioeconomic progress. Based on the most recent estimates, poverty levels in the LLDCs stand at around 21%, significantly higher than the world average of 10%. The average growth rate in LLDCs’ exports has fallen by 53% in the last decade since the adoption of the VPOA. Pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions have increased shipping costs, magnifying the geographical isolation of these countries, and making access to global markets even more difficult. Food insecurity worsened further, increasing from 43.4 per cent in 2015, to 57.9 per cent in 2022.  

Excellencies, 

As the VPOA draws to a close, we must make every effort to ensure that the next Programme of Action is more ambitious and aligned with the needs on the ground. We must seize the opportunity of the LLDC3 to set the stage for the next decade of development for these countries. In my capacity as the Secretary-General of the LLDC3, my Office is leading the UN system-wide substantive preparations for the Conference. I am pleased to inform you that we have had three very successful regional review meetings this year.  

• The first was for the Africa region, held in Gaborone, Botswana in May.   

• In July, we met in Asuncion, Paraguay, for the Latin America regional review.  

• [And] in August, we had the Euro-Asia regional review in Bangkok.  

All three regional meetings adopted comprehensive outcome documents, which provided critical inputs for the zero draft of the next Programme of Action that is currently in development. We have seized every opportunity, most recently at COP28, to mobilize support for the Conference. We are also ensuring a whole of UN-engagement to support the Conference preparations. UN-system entities have been mobilized to remain active in the process through the dedicated Interagency Consultative Group for LLDCs. We are also engaging closely with the RCs in the LLDCs. I have had several rounds of meetings to fully integrate them into national level preparations for the Conference, in support of their host government and other stakeholders.  We also expect them to be in Kigali.  

Excellencies,  

The outcome documents of the regional review meetings, UN reports, and different high-level events identified the priorities of the LLDCs for the next POA. Allow me to briefly highlight a few: 

First: closing the infrastructure gap remains critical for the LLDCs to overcome their structural constraints. In African LLDCs alone, the financing gap for infrastructure ranges from $68bn–$108bn. LLDCs need enhanced global support and multistakeholder partnerships, especially in the areas of transit transport, ICT, and energy sectors, as well as, in related soft infrastructure. Enhanced regional cooperation is going to be critical in this regard, especially to build an efficient and seamless transportation network of roads, railways, and ports to harness the full potentials of regional integration. There is also a clear need to enhance domestic resource mobilization for infrastructure investment in LLDCs, including through developing PPP and other innovative measures. 

Second: trade facilitation. According to the WTO, LLDCs share of world trade was 1.1% in 2022, down from 1.2% in 2013. LLDCs also face trade costs that are 40 per cent higher than their counterparts in coastal developing countries. It is imperative to reverse this situation. Without making trade the essential growth engine of the LLDCs, it is not possible to realize the SDGs. LLDCs urgently need scaled-up access to aid for trade, full implementation of the trade facilitation agreement, reduction of trade costs, and support for building trade capacities in MSMEs, e-commerce, and diversification of goods and services. 

Third: Information and Communication Technologies. It will be critically important that the new programme of action addresses the clear technological and digital divides in LLDCs. Enhanced access to the Internet and modern technologies, including the frontier technologies, will be critical to set the LLDCs on a rapid and ambitious development trajectory. This will also allow the LLDCs to upgrade their customs processes and enhance the efficiency of border services through e-governance and e-commerce. It will be equally important to prioritize policies and initiatives that promote structural economic transformation in LLDCs to enable them to move to higher production frontiers in regional and global value chains. 

Fourth: I am just returning from COP-28. I am very encouraged to see the overwhelming recognition of the serious challenges that LLDCs face due to extreme climate-related events, including storms, cyclones, floods, heat waves, droughts, melting glaciers, and landslides. We must seize this opportunity to further integrate the needs and priorities of LLDCs into the global climate discourse. The next POA can be an important step forward toward this end.  

Finally: LLDCs need enhanced financing from all sources, including domestic sources, bilateral and multilateral donors, IFIs, RDBs and MDBs, as well as through South-South and Triangular Cooperation, innovative and blended financing. This will enable the implementation of the new POA, thereby accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. LLDCs also need more support to address debt problems and ensure long-term debt sustainability. 

Excellencies, 

Let us harness our shared commitment to drive transformative change in the lives of the 570 million people living in 32 LLDCs to ensure that no one is left behind. We have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to explore innovative solutions and build meaningful partnerships to unlock the potential of these countries. As I conclude, I would like to, once again, thank the PGA and P-ECOSOC for bringing us all together today. I wish to assure you that we will continue to be with you at every step of the way to ensure a successful LLDC3 in Kigali.  

I thank you.