I finally went to the gift shop and purchased a lanyard for
my ID card. I also got to attend a High-Level meeting of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs as they spoke on Transportation issues concerning LLDCs. The
significance was not lost on me. One of my main focuses of thought for this
week is concerning the role of Regional Organizations in promoting sustainable
mountain development. And this issue of transportation is a big one.
Part of the problem is that, as a land-locked developing
nation, access to ocean and sea transport (cheapest form of transport) is
non-existent. I mean the name pretty much says it all. This means that these
countries must rely on more expensive means of transport. Already, usually,
considered poorer nations, land-locked nations cannot easily meet the financial
demands that appear before them. For a land-locked nation, this means that a
large portion of their, already limited, GDP is set aside to deal with
transportation costs.
How does this relate to the issue of the role of regional
organizations in promoting SMD? It relates in that, there is a very real
necessity for nations to collaborate and produce a means to cut down the
financial demand of transportation costs. Organizations such as the WTO, International
Communications Union (ITU), and others promote a collaborative effort such as
the Almaty Programme of Action.
The purpose of this programme is to develop countermeasures
to such issues as the lack of definite infrastructure or the lack of adequate communications.
I think that the WTO put it the most succinctly; 1) Agreement to trade
facilitation. 2) Enhancing allocation of aide for trade (commitment from
donors) 3) Need to diversify from goods to services. 4) Excision from the WTO.
I wasn’t sure about that last one. The only way that I could see that as a
positive means of change would be for the LLDCs to have paid back any and all
loans or trade agreements that might have been previously made.
With the continued efforts of these nations, a new,
brighter, future for their citizens is possible.
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