A/RES/31/158 GA

V. Resolutions adopted on the reports of the Second Committee 67 3. Invites the appropriate organs of the United Nations system, as well as the regional development banks, to pay special attention to the particular prob- lems of the land-locked developing countries in their assistance to national, subregional and regional infra- structural projects related to transit; 4. Urges the developed countries and all others in a position to do so to provide technical and/ or financial assistance in the form of grants or in the form of con- cessional loans on appropriate terms to the land-locked developing countries for the construction, improvement and maintenance of their transit roads; 5. Calls upon the Governments of developed and developing countries to invite and urge shipowners, members of liner conferences and insurance companies, as far as is feasible, to establish freight rates and pre- miums for the land-locked developing countries, which will encourage and assist the expansion of trade of these countries, and to develop promotional rates for non- traditional exports of these countries, which will facili- tate the opening up of new markets and the development of new trade flows; 6. Invites all Member States and the competent international organizations to assist the land-locked de- veloping countries in facilitating the exercise of their right of free access to and from the sea. I 06th plenary meeting 21 December 1976 31/158. Debt problems of developing countries The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974 and 3362 (S-VII) of 16 Sep- tember 1975, Further recalling resolution 94 (IV) of 31 May 1976 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and De- velopment, 158 Noting with grave concern that heavy debt-service payments, current account deficits stemming from mal- adjustments in the world economy, inadequate balance- of-payments support and long-term development assist- ance, coupled with tight conditions and the high cost of loans in international capital markets and difficulties of access to markets in developed countries for exports of developing countries, as well as declining real prices of primary commodities exported by developing coun- tries, have, among other things, combined to impose a serious and critical strain on the import capacity and reserves of developing countries, thus jeopardizing their development process, A ware that the deterioration in the terms of trade of developing countries and the high-cost short-term bor- rowing to which they have had to resort recently have seriously aggravated their debt burden, Convinced that the situation facing the developing countries can be mitigated by decisive and urgent relief measures in respect of both their official and commercial debts and that these measures are essential to restore the momentum of growth lost during the economic crisis and to achieve the targets of the International Develop- ment Strategy for the Second United Nations Devel- opment Decade, 159 158 Ibid. 59 Resolution 2626 (XXV). Acknowledging that, in the present circumstances, there are sufficient common elements in the debt-servic- ing difficulties faced by various developing countries to warrant the adoption of general measures relating to their existing debt, Recognizing the especially difficult circumstances and debt burden of the most seriously affected, least de- veloped, land-locked and island developing countries, 1. Considers that it is integral to the establishment of the new international economic order to give a new orientation to procedures of reorganization of debt owed to developed countries away from the past experi- ence of a primarily commercial framework towards a developmental approach; 2. Affirms the urgency of reaching a general and effective solution to the debt problems of developing countries; 3. Agrees that future debt negotiations should be considered within the context of internationally agreed development targets, national development objectives and international financial co-operation, and debt re- organization of interested developing countries carried out in accordance with the objectives, procedures and institutions evolved for that purpose; 4. Stresses that all these measures should be con- sidered and implemented in a manner not prejudicial to the credit-worthiness of any developing country; 5. Urges the International Conference on Economic Co-operation to reach an early agreement on the ques- tion of immediate and generalized debt relief of the official debts of the developing countries, in particular of the most seriously affected, least developed, land- locked and island developing countries, and on the re- organization of the entire system of debt renegotiations to give it a developmental rather than a commercial orientation; 6. Requests the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Devel- opment, at its ministerial session to be held in 1977, to review the results of negotiations on this question in other forums and to reach agreement on concrete measures to provide an immediate solution to the debt problems of developing countries, and requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to report thereon to the Gen- eral Assembly at its thirty-second session. 106th plenary meeting 21 December 1976 31/159. Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on its fourth session60 The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 1995 (XIX) of 30 De- cember 1964, as amended,61 2626 (XXV) of 24 Oc- tober 1970, 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974 and 3362 (S-VII) of 16 September 1975, Mindful that in its resolution 3362 (S-VII) it stated that an important aim of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its fourth session was to 110 See also sect. X.B.3 below. decision 31/419. 61 Resolutions 2904 ( XXVII) .ind 31 /2 A and B.

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