LDCs ask developed world to meet trade commitments

DHAKA (Reuters) - Least developed countries of the Asia and Pacific region renewed their demand on Wednesday that developed nations fulfil commitments to allow duty-free market access along with other trade-related assistance.

"They must honour their promises to help least developed countries (LDCs) to overcome the curse of unending poverty," said Noeleen Heyzer, a U.N. under-secretary and executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

"The representatives literally said enough is enough. A sense of urgency is there to attain time-bound development targets," Noeleen told reporters on Wednesday at the end of a 3-day conference of the LDCs in the Bangladesh capital.

The Dhaka meeting was jointly organised by the government of Bangladesh and ESCAP.

The representatives want disbursement of additional resources pledged by the developed countries and for official development assistance to be aligned with LDC national development priorities.

The Dhaka meeting aimed at making preparations for the 4th UN conference on LDCs scheduled for Istanbul next year.

"The Dhaka outcome document will be endorsed at the ministerial level meeting of the UN ESCAP in South Korea in June this year," said M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Bangladesh's secretary of the economic relations division.

Source:in.reuters.com/