Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade RGOB
SECOND UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE
ON LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The Second UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), which opened on 3rd November 2014 in Vienna, Austria concluded on the afternoon of 5th November 2014.
The Conference had participation of representatives from 129 governments of LLDCs, transit developing countries and donor countries, which included 7 at the level of Heads of State and Government and 40 at the Ministerial level. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon and the President of the 69th General Assembly, Mr. Sam Kutesa also participated in the conference along with representatives of UN and other international organizations and the private sector.
The main outcome of the conference was the adoption of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2014, which contains Six Priorities for Action, namely: a) Fundamental transit policy issues, b) Infrastructure development and maintenance, c) International trade and trade facilitation, d) Regional integration and cooperation, e) Structural economic transformation, and f) Means of Implementation.
The Bhutanese Delegation to the Conference was led by Ambassador Kunzang C. Namgyel, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations in New York and comprised of officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Gross National Happiness Commission.
The Conference was presided over by the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Austria, Mr. Sebastian Kurtz. Bhutan was elected as one of the 15 Vice Presidents of the Conference and in that capacity, Ambassador Kunzang C. Namgyel presided over the 3rd Plenary Session of the Conference.
Ambassador Kunzang C. Namgyel delivered Bhutan’s Statement at the Conference on the afternoon of 4th November. In her statement, she highlighted the challenges faced by Bhutan as a landlocked developing country and called for the Conference to seize the historic opportunity to adopt a forward looking programme of action that builds on the Almaty Programme and include actions that would enable LLDCs to pursue robust economic growth through structural transformation of their economies, enhancing their productive capacity and building their resilience to meet ongoing and emerging challenges.
The Bhutanese Delegation also participated in the High-Level Thematic Roundtable Sessions and Side Events on issues related to Landlocked Developing Countries, which were organized in parallel with the Conference.
Webcast of Kutshab Delivering Statement: http://webtv.un.org/search/kunzang-namgyel-bhutan-4th-plenary-meeting/3874783641001?term=Bhutan
Additional Background Information on the Conference: http://www.lldc2conference.org/