Ministers of landlocked countries meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly

NUR-SULTAN, September 23, 2020 - Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (GLDC), chaired by the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi, was held in an online format.

UN Secretary General António Guterres, President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir, UN High Representative for the most vulnerable developing countries Fekitamoeloa Utoikamanu addressed the participants with welcoming messages.

In his opening speech the Minister noted that, as the most affected by the pandemic, the group of vulnerable countries requires adequate support from international partners and donors. Kazakhstan, as the global Chair of the LLDC group for the 2020-2021period, will continue to defend and promote the interests of the countries of the Group at all relevant platforms.

As a result of the meeting, a Roadmap to accelerate progress in the direction of solving challenges faced by the countries of the Group, related, inter alia, to remoteness from world markets and dependence on transit countries, was adopted. The document, initiated by the Kazakh chairmanship, will contribute to uniting the efforts of all stakeholders for the accelerated implementation of these tasks for the period up to 2024.

The event was attended by over 200 delegates, including heads of foreign agencies of 32 LLDC countries and partner countries, heads of international organizations and UN agencies such as ESCAP, ECE, UNIDO, ITU, WCO, UNEP, etc.

The Group of Landlocked Developing Countries includes 32 countries with a population of over half a billion. Kazakhstan is the largest geographically and the most remote from the World Ocean (more than 3000 km) landlocked state.