International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries’ agreement enters into force

The International Think Tank (ITT) for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and the United Nations Office of the High Representative for LLDCs and UN Treaty section held a press conference about the entry into force of a multilateral agreement for establishing ITT on October 6 at the UN headquarters in New York.

UN high representative for the Least Developed Countries, LLDCs and Small Island Developing States Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu, Chair of LLDCs and Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Zambia to the UN Lazarous Kapambwe, and ambassador at-large and interim director of ITT for LLDCs E.Odbayar reported about the multilateral agreement at the press conference.

E.Odbayar noted that at the 2006 meeting of LLDCs’ state heads, then Mongolian President N.Enkhbayar initiated the establishment of the think tank which was officially launched by then UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in July 2009, during his visit to Mongolia.

He added that the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/64/214 on December 21, 2009, which accepted the establishment of the think tank in Ulaanbaatar, and Article 12.1 of the agreement states that the agreement shall enter into force on the 60th day after the date of deposit of the 10th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession on the agreement.

E.Odbayar stated that as the multilateral agreement was endorsed by Mongolia in 2011; Laos and Armenia in 2012; Afghanistan in 2013; Kazakhstan in 2015; Burkina Faso and Paraguay in 2016; and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Nepal in 2017, and Nepal became the 10th member state of ITT for LLDCs on August 7 of this year, the multilateral agreement has entered into force.

After the press conference, a high level luncheon event for the group of LLDCs took place on October 6 in New York.

During the event, E.Odbayar reported on ITT’s operation for the past three years and future plans to the event’s attendees.

He also introduced recent activities carried out by ITT to the attendees, and reported the following five different studies in the areas of international trade connectivity, information and communications technology, and transport connectivity, which are being conducted by the think tank.

1. International Trade Connectivity – Revisiting “Dutch Disease”: The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Diversification on the International Trade and Food Security of Laos

2. ICT Connectivity – The Process of Technology Leapfrogging: Insights from the National ICT Infrastructure Development Journey of Azerbaijan

3. Transport Connectivity – Modeling the Potential for Aviation Liberalization in Central Asia

4. Bilateral Transit and Transportation Agreements of LLDCs: Benefits and Bottlenecks – Case India and Nepal

5. Rethinking Regional Integration for LLDCs.