A/68/PV.84 General Assembly

Before proceeding to the items on our agenda, I should like, in keeping with established practice, to draw the attention of the General Assembly to document A/68/716/Add.10, in which the Secretary-General informs the President of the General Assembly that, since the issuance of his communication contained in document A/68/716/Add.9, Vanuatu has made the payment necessary to reduce its arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter. May I take it that the General Assembly duly takes note of the information contained in that document?

I now draw the attention of the General Assembly to draft resolution A/68/L.38/Rev.1, circulated under sub-item (b) of agenda item 22, entitled “Comprehensive 10-year Review Conference on the *1430682* 14-30682 (E) Implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action”. Members will recall that, at its second plenary meeting, on 20 September 2013, the General Assembly decided to allocate sub-item (b) of agenda item 22 to the Second Committee. To enable the General Assembly to take action expeditiously on that document, may I take it that the Assembly wishes to consider sub-item (b) of agenda item 22 directly in the plenary meeting and to proceed immediately to its consideration?

I now give the floor to the representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to introduce draft resolution A/68/L.38/Rev.1.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. The delegation of the Plurinational State of Bolivia wishes, on behalf give 77 and China, to express its gratitude to the delegations that participated in, and supported the negotiation process on, the draft resolution entitled “Second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries” (A/68/L.38/Rev.1). Accordingly, the delegation of Bolivia wishes to thank the delegation of Bulgaria for facilitating the informal consultations, the delegation of Austria for hosting the Conference, the delegation of Zambia, which held the presidency of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries, the delegation of Paraguay for coordinating the informal consultative process on behalf of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries and the Group of 77 and China, and the delegations of the associated countries to the cause of landlocked developing countries for their contributions and support during the informal consultation process on the draft resolution. Furthermore, the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China calls for the inclusion of the delegations of Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on the list of sponsors of the draft resolution.

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/68/L.38/Rev.1, entitled “Second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries”. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to adopt draft resolution A/68/L.38/Rev.1?

I now give the floor to the representative of Zambia, who wishes to make a statement following the adoption of resolution 68/270.

I wish to thank the President for convening today’s meeting on sub-item (b) of agenda item 22, entitled “Comprehensive 10-year Review Conference on the Implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action”. I wish also to express my gratitude to the delegations of Paraguay and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, which coordinated the draft resolution on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, for their excellent work. We also thank our partners for their contribution, which has led to the resolution just adopted by consensus (resolution 68/270). The adoption of the resolution, which focuses on the Second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, is of great significance to the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries as we look forward to reviewing the Almaty Programme of Action. The Almaty Programme of Action, which was adopted 10 years ago, has played its part in improving the economic and social development of landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) during its implementation, despite great differences among individual landlocked developing countries. Progress has been made in upgrading and expanding the road transport infrastructure in some LLDC regions. Some progress has also been achieved towards “soft” infrastructure development and the harmonization of transport, transit policies, laws, procedures and practices. Those efforts made in improving transit, transport and trade facilitation policies have begun to yield positive results, especially in terms of reducing the time required to import or export commodities and other goods. However, the LLDC group still faces a great number of challenges, including the transit-transport infrastructure for LLDCs, which remains inadequate and has some missing links. The LLDCs have limited productive capabilities and constrained ability to add value, especially in the agricultural and mining sectors, against the backdrop of a declining industrial base. Furthermore, those difficulties are exacerbated by multiple emerging global challenges, including rising food and fuel prices, economic and financial crises and climate change, with LLDCs having limited resilience and mitigating capacities to respond to those challenges. Strengthening international partnerships with and support for LLDCs is therefore of paramount importance to stepped-up efforts aimed at achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the highlighted special needs of LLDCs in the post- 2015 development agenda. In that regard, we expect the Conference to undertake a comprehensive appraisal of the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, share best practices and lessons learned and identify obstacles and constraints encountered, as well as the actions and initiatives needed to overcome them. The Conference will also formulate and adopt a new development partnership framework for the next decade to support LLDCs and provide aid for the post- 2015 development agenda. In particular, we hope that the Conference will address those issues related to infrastructure development, transit issues, trade facilitation and development, regional integration and policy frameworks designed to reduce prohibitive transit costs and enable the LLDCs to fully participate in global trade. We also hope that the Conference will address broader issues, including structural transformation, value addition, export diversification, the improvement of productive capacities and building LLDC resilience in the face of shocks such as the effects of climate change, desertification and economic crises, and the mobilization of additional international support measures in favour of the LLDCs. Lastly, we look forward to the active participation of Member States in June and October 2014 at our Preparatory Committee meetings and at the Conference to be held in Vienna from 3 to 5 November.

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 22.