LLDC OVERVIEW
In a conversation with Dulguun Damdin-Od, the OPEC Fund Quarterly discussed future prospects of LLDCs, initiatives to accelerate economic progress and how Mongolian cashmere may provide a model way forward.
Dulguun Damdin-Od
OPEC Fund Quarterly : There is a 10- year international road map to support LLDCs. How do you see the progress? Damdin-Od: The Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA) was adopted for the period of 2014-2024 during the UN Conference on Landlocked and Developed Countries. It proposes a series of targeted measures across several key areas: transit policy, infrastructure development, trade and trade facilitation, regional integration and cooperation, structural economic transformation, and means of implementation. The outcome will be reviewed at a UN conference in Kigali this year (see page 6). So far, the regional reviews show that there are geographic and regional differences between African, Asian and European LLDCs in terms of implementation and achievements. There is progress in some key areas such as transit transportation, trade facilitation, infrastructure development, regional integration and structural transformation. In these main priorities, the overall progress is around 80 percent, however there is a big gap when it comes to African “Switzerland has brand products like the Swiss watch... So we recommend some LLDCs to focus on high value, brand products. In Mongolia’s case this can be cashmere.”
LLDCs, many of which are also among the least developed countries. Lack of transportation infrastructure and geopolitical tensions with neighboring countries make it very challenging to implement the VPoA. These countries need huge investments, also to achieve the SDGs. OFQ : How about other sectors than transport? DO: There are also significant geographic differences. For example, information and communication technologies (ICT) development in LLDCs is very low, especially in Africa. But Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Albania have progressed significantly in terms of ICT development. We have an interesting study on Azerbaijan and how they are developing the sector. A crucial advantage that they possess due to their less developed state is the ability to “leapfrog” by learning from the best practices of others. This form of
development rapidly and cost effectively. Azerbaijan has made a leap and currently has an internet penetration rate that approaches the level of developed countries. This is of course helping e-trade, e-commerce, digital trading, which is very good practice to improve connectivity with international markets. That’s why now every LDC is very interested in developing the ICT sector. Elected Executive Director of the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries in 2022 after previously serving the institution as Director of Operations. Previously, he worked as national consultant for the Mining Infrastructure Investment Support Project of the World Bank. He earned an MBA in International Management from the International University of Japan in 2012.
“strategic imitation” can allow an LLDC to achieve the state of the art in ICT infrastructure
Dulguun Damdin-Od, International Think Tank for LLDCs, Executive Director
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