Help LDCs: Bangladesh to developed world

Bangladesh has passed the chairmanship of the LDCs on to Malawi and called upon the developed world to support the countries that need to put their development on a “stronger base”.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam as the chair of the meeting in New York on Wednesday said the global partnership for development, the cornerstone of the 2030 Agenda, is at a “critical juncture”.

“While we need more support for putting our development on a stronger base, we are dismayed to see that the very important means of implementation of the 2030 agenda such as ODA, trade, FDI have been declining and debt sustainability remains glaring,” he said.

“This situation must be reversed.”

Shahriar appreciated the EU and other partners for delivering their commitments to the development of the LDCs.

“We hope that a more innovative and stronger collaboration would be forged between the LDCs and the friends of LDCs.”

“As a number of LDCs are now in the pipeline to graduate, their challenges should also be taken into consideration so that they do not regress to the LDC category. There must be focused and time-bound support measures for the graduating and the graduated LDCs.”

He also highlighted Bangladesh’s economic growth under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the country has attained the eligibility for graduation from the LDC category.

But, he said, “We face considerable development challenges overcoming which would require the continued support from our friends.”

The new global development architecture, embedded in the 2030 agenda, Addis Ababa Action Agenda, Paris Agreement and other global deals, provides a clear blue print for the course of action of each country.

“LDCs have anchored these global landmark agreements in their national development strategies in a coordinated and coherent manner. Most of them have already started implementation of Agenda in full force,” he said.

Citing latest reports, he said, for almost all LDCs, the SDG target of at least 7 percent GDP growth remains elusive as they could grow on an average 4.8 percent and financing and capacity gaps are the greatest in LDCs.

“The current growth trajectory will not deliver the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 particularly for the LDCs who will fall short by large margins.”

He stressed “more LDC-focused” discussion in the UN, particularly on bolstering development cooperation in areas which are critical for the LDCs.

The state minister thanked Turkey for making progress in the operationalisation of the Technology Bank.