Kathmandu. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has returned home after participating in the third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) held in Turkmenistan.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, and Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey welcomed the Prime Minister at the VIP lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport.
The Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Security Agencies, and high-ranking employees of the Government of Nepal were present on the occasion. The Nepali Army presented a guard of honour in honor of the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Oli had gone there to participate in the conference at the formal invitation of Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The conference was organized in the city of ‘Awaja’ in Turkmenistan from 5 to 8 August.
Prime Minister Oli addressed the conference as the Chairman of the Global Coordination Bureau for Least Developed Countries. During the conference, he co-chaired a high-level roundtable meeting and addressed various other programs.
32 landlocked developing countries from Asia, Europe, Africa and South America participated in the conference. It is reported that the conference discussed issues such as lack of direct regional access to the sea, problems faced by landlocked countries and benefits they can reap from the world market. In view of the reality that the international trade of these countries depends on transit through other countries, the conference focused on increasing the competitiveness of landlocked developing countries, as additional border crossings and long distances from major markets, cumbersome transit procedures and inadequate infrastructure significantly increase the total cost of transportation and other transactions, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the occasion of the conference, Prime Minister Oli met with heads of delegations from various countries and high-ranking officials of the United Nations and other international organizations. Landlocked developing countries face challenges in international trade, connectivity and economic development due to their lack of direct territorial access to the sea.
The conference is expected to be fruitful in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in a context where direct access has prevented them from benefiting significantly from global markets, where there is no convenient global transport network and where food infrastructure development is difficult.
The conference is expected to help member countries address the challenges by increasing investment, including strategic partnerships, to solve the problems faced by them and to help them assess their full potential. Similarly, the conference has become a role to build a mutually equitable and prosperous future by supporting these countries.
Earlier, the Second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries was held in Vienna, Austria, from 3 to 5 November 2014. The conference, held about 10 years ago, discussed the topic of ‘Reviewing the implementation of the Almaty Action Plan and identifying international, regional, subregional and national and international trade and transit transport cooperation policies and transit transport systems in the context of partnerships and opportunities to address new and emerging challenges’.
The high-level visiting team led by the Prime Minister included Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Bahadur Rai, First Lady Radhika Shakya, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister Bishnu Prasad Rimal, MP Surya Bahadur Thapa Chhetri, Chief Personal Secretary to the Prime Minister Rajesh Bajracharya, private physician Prof. Dr. Divya Singh Shah, high-ranking government officials, media persons and security personnel.