Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) H E Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater during the session.
Doha: Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) H E Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bangladesh H E Dr. Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, have co-chaired the 5th session of high-level meeting on Asia-Pacific Regional Review on the Implementation of the Istanbul Program of Action in Preparation for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries for 2011-2020.
Al Khater co-chaired the session titled “Structural transformation and resilient infrastructure for sustained economic growth, poverty alleviation, and decent work for all” virtually via video conferencing, while Abdul Momen co-chaired the proceedings from the headquarters of the United Nations Office in Geneva. The high-level meetings opened on Monday and will conclude today.
Speaking at the beginning of the session, Al Khater stressed the importance of focusing on sustainable structural transformation to support the growth of the green economy, especially given the increasing repercussions of climate change in various parts of the world, and its impact on the least developed countries (LDCs).
He also called for a discussion on the various prospects for enhancing sustainable development and structural transformation in LDCs, in light of technological development and green growth initiatives aimed at rebuilding better post-COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the Undersecretary reiterated the need to ensure that strategies aimed at increasing trade exchange and developing productive capacities were oriented towards addressing the context-specific realities of LDCs.
During the event, Abdul Momen called on the session’s speakers to highlight the issue of structural transformation as a key priority in the zero draft outcome document, which is currently under negotiation, and entails a range of important sub-topics, such as production capacities, private sector development, maintenance and development of infrastructure, and integration into global and regional value chains.
The session featured a number of presentations by a number of officials including the Minister for Economic Affairs of Bhutan H E Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Acting Secretary-General of UNCTAD Isabelle Durant, Chief of Transport Sector Group for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at the Asian Development Bank Jamie Leather, President of Microsoft Asia Pacific Andrea Della Mattea, and Director of FAO Liaison Office at the United Nations in Geneva Dominique Burgeon.
Discussions during the session touched on three themes, including mechanisms to enable LDCs in the Asia Pacific region to fully capitalise on technological progress and regulatory best practices for improving infrastructure (physical transport and broadband) to meet the development challenges facing these countries.
Under the second theme, the role of Microsoft as a private company was highlighted in terms of promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, value addition, and bridging the digital divide in LDCs in the Asia-Pacific.
The third theme addressed the national and international policies that should be adopted by LDCs to develop the agricultural sector, and to ensure that the said sector was a driver of growth and structural economic transformation.
It is worth noting that the Asia-Pacific Regional Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Istanbul Program in LDCs comes in preparation for the fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which will be hosted by Qatar in January 2022. This meeting aims to make a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the Istanbul Program in the Asia-Pacific LDCs, as well as to share best practices and lessons learned.
This meeting also seeks to identify effective international and local policies in light of the outcome of the appraisal, in addition to discussing new and emerging challenges and opportunities and the means to address them.
