Kathmandu, September 24 : Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali addressed the 19th Annual Ministerial Meeting of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) held virtually on the margins of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (September 23).
In his address, the Foreign Minister highlighted the disruptions, challenges and hardships faced by LLDCs and said that LLDCs were struggling to fend off the double-edged sword of health and economic crisis. He underscored the importance of e-commerce and digital technologies to transform LLDCs and liberate their economies from the rigid clutches of geography, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also welcomed UN Secretary General’s roadmap for accelerating the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action (VPOA) and called for effective partnerships among LLDCs, their transit neighbours, development partners, UN, and other stakeholders.
While highlighting Nepal’s vision of becoming a land-linked country under the national aspiration of ‘Prosperous Nepal and Happy Nepali’, the Foreign Minister also underlined the need of predictable and reliable transit regime, connectivity infrastructures and enhanced productive capacities for the LLDCs to help them ride out the current crisis and emerge stronger in future.
President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly Volkan Bozkir and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also addressed the meeting of the Group. The Meeting adopted the LLDC Ministerial Declaration and the Roadmap for Accelerated Implementation of the VPOA. —
