ECA to participate in Istanbul Ministerial Conference on LDCs

6 July 2007

The UN-Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mr. Abdoulie Janneh will address a two-day Ministerial Conference on the theme, “Making Globalization Work for Least Developed Countries (LDCs)”, scheduled to kick-off on 9-10 July 2007 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Conference will assess LDC participation in the global production, trade, financial, monetary and information systems and review the impact of globalization on the development of LDCs. It will also identify concrete and practical measures, including programmes and projects, for the beneficial integration of LDCs in the world economy.

In attendance will be Ministers, Permanent Representatives of the United Nations, UN-system agencies, financial institutions, international and regional organizations and National Focal Points of the 50 LDCs, as well as representatives from civil society, private sector academia and government. Coalitions of action and partnerships between LDCs and their development partners are expected to emerge as a result of this Conference.

The Conference is set against a backdrop of trends in recent globalization that have opened unprecedented opportunities for the movement of goods, services and people. Yet, the 50 poorest countries in the world classified by the United Nations as LDCs have failed to benefit from its fruits: liberalization of international trade, expansion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), integration of financial markets and technological innovations. In addition, unsustainable external debt, spikes in oil prices and agricultural protectionism of industrial countries have further exacerbated the situation. Global warming or climate change has recently emerged as new challenge to the development of LDCs, in particular Small Island States and in Africa.