Held on the margins of the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14)
Excellencies, dear colleagues, thank you for this invitation.
Let me get straight to the point. Landlocked developing countries’ (LLDCs) trade costs are the single greatest barrier to integration into the global economy. To lower those costs is to unlock growth. That is what this Ministerial must deliver.
I want to make two points. First, on the scale of the challenge. Second, on what we can do about it.
I’ll start with the challenge. LLDCs face nearly twice the shipping costs and delays of transit countries. Four out of five depend on commodity exports, leaving them exposed to price swings they cannot control. And their share of global services exports remains very low, precisely in the sectors – digital services, e-commerce, professional work – where other economies are growing fastest.
These are not abstract numbers. They translate into farmers who cannot reach regional markets, entrepreneurs whose goods lose competitiveness at every border crossing, and small firms that are locked out of the digital economy because the infrastructure is not there.
Compounding this, many LLDCs face mounting debt burdens that squeeze the very investments needed to reduce trade costs – forcing governments to choose between servicing creditors and building infrastructure. On this point, let me flag something concrete. UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is operationalizing a Borrowers’ Platform – mandated by the Sevilla Commitment – to give debtor countries what creditors have long had: a permanent space for peer learning, technical capacity and a collective voice in sovereign debt discussions. This directly serves LLDC interests.
This brings me to my second point: what MC14 can deliver. The Awaza Programme of Action provides a clear roadmap. The Ministerial Declaration you are about to adopt translates that roadmap into concrete priorities for the multilateral trading system. UNCTAD is ready to support implementation on three fronts.
First, trade facilitation and transit. Many of the costs LLDCs face at borders come from inefficient procedures, not distance.
Replacing paper-based customs forms with digital tools can lower costs by up to 30%. The Northern Corridor in East Africa cut border-crossing times from Uganda to Kenya from three days to three hours. Your declaration calls for a digital global corridor mapping dashboard to identify bottlenecks and guide investment – UNCTAD’s trade facilitation work, including on the implementation of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement, is ready to contribute to exactly this.
Second, digital trade and diversification. When transport costs make physical goods uncompetitive, the digital economy offers a way around the geographical disadvantage. E-commerce, digital services, remote professional work – these are weightless sectors that do not stop at borders. But they require digital infrastructure, legal frameworks and skills.
Our e-trade readiness assessments help countries identify what they need, and our investment promotion programmes support the transition. The declaration rightly calls for targeted support to integrate LLDC small and medium-sizedenterprises into digital value chains. We are ready to deliver on that.
Third, a dedicated WTO work programme for LLDCs. Your group has been calling for this since Abu Dhabi, and the declaration makes the case clearly: a systematic, results-oriented platform to keep LLDC-specific trade challenges on the multilateral agenda.
UNCTAD supports this call and stands ready to contribute its analytical and technical cooperation capacity.
Excellencies, geography need not determine destiny. With the right policies, the right investments and the right support from the multilateral system, landlocked countries can become connected countries. UNCTAD is committed to that work.
Thank you.