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November 14, 2000 

Dhaka-- (UNB) - Bangladesh would require about 25 years to graduate from least developed-country status if it maintains the growth rate observed in the past decade, a UN body forecast at high-level meeting here yesterday.

The 3-day regional preparatory meeting for the third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries began at a local hotel under the auspices of ESCAP, UNCTAD and the government of Bangladesh.

ESCAP calculations show, like Bangladesh, none of the 13 LDCs of the Asia-Pacific region will be able to graduate within next decade.

Only five LDCs managed to cross USD 900 per-capita income, a figure being used as one of the criteria for reviewing the list of LDCs, the meeting was told.

"Bhutan and Lao PDR would require about 20 years while Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal would not be in a position to reach the benchmark before middle of the century."

Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria inaugurated the meeting where delegates from 21 countries, including host Bangladesh, are expected to hammer out recommendations for the UN conference on LDCs to be held in Brussels in May 2000.

ESCAP executive secretary Dr Kim Hak-Su, UNCTAD deputy executive secretary Dr Jean-Nicholas Marchal, ERD secretary Dr AKM Masihur Rahman and Commerce secretary Golam Rahman also addressed the function.

Following failure in last two decades, the recommendations would be considered as primary inputs of the region to formulate and adopt the third Programme of Action (POA) aiming to give LDCs a renewed hope for a better life in the next decade.

Since UN General Assembly identified 25 LDCs in 1971 as per the matrix of income, share of manufacturing in GDP and literacy rate, the number of LDCs has increased to 48.

Kibria said the commitments made in the previous two conferences had largely remained unfulfilled despite growing realisation for evolving collective and effective approach to arrest the deteriorating conditions of the LDCs.

He said the Substantial New Programme of Action (SNPA) for the 80s and the Programme of Action (POA) for the 90s adopted to improve socioeconomic condition of the LDCs had been ignored by the international communities.

The 80s have been dubbed "lost decade" for the developing nations in general and the LDCs in particular while the 90s for the LDCs became the decade of increasing marginalisation, inequalities, poverty and social exclusion.

"Despite some growth, inequality has widened between the richer and the poorer countries," said the Finance Minister in a critical note on the rolls of international bodies concerned.

Mibria said the ODA flow to LDCs decreased, the donors failed to reach the target agreed for the 80s and 90s. "More disquieting, the delivery of aid has been constrained by imposing conditions."

Pointing his finger to globalisation, he said now many countries feel threatened by the unpredictable forces the process unleashed and fear that they might lose out even further.

Despite increase in global output, trade and investment, the benefits of globalisation have been unequally distributed. "Indeed, the LDC opportunities have shrunk, their risk multiplied and the challenges they are facing are compounded."

Kibria observed some LDCs were called upon to enter into the free-trade regime, but some of them are not in a position to compete. When they opened their door they found what they achieved wiped out.

"We opened our door that caused 2000 industries wiped out…when we are opening up, some countries are closing the doors," the finance minister said. "Unless these basic issues are addressed, the results would be ignored by the international countries."

The minister urged the experts to identify the problems and possibilities of the region's LDCs and chart out plan of action in concrete terms keeping in view the experience of the 90s.

UNCTAD deputy executive secretary Marchal agreed that the traditional obstacles to development had been further exacerbated by the ongoing processes of globalisation and liberalisation.

He said social and economic indicators for the LDCs as a group provided a compelling evidence of their continued marginalisation in the global economy and the international trading system.

He noted that two decades of international action, in favour of LDCs in the context of two programmes of action, seem to have led nowhere.

"The third conference on LDCs must be our last try and an opportunity we cannot afford to miss," he told the meeting.

ERD secretary Dr Masihur Rahman said the international support for the previous programmes fell far short of the commitment.

ODA did not reach 0.15-0.20 per cent of the aggregate GDP of the developed countries, their share of FDI was 0.6 per cent of the global capital flows, their share of global trade was very low and the debt problems were not addressed squarely.