 This report offers the World Bank’s perspective on progress in implementing the Almaty Programme of Action. A product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Vice-Presidency (PRMVP) and published by the Trade Department, the report was made available during a recent High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly held on October 2-3, 2008 in NYC – a mid-term review (5 out of 10 years) on the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Actions (POA) for Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs). The report provides an update on the access of LLDCs to global markets since the Almaty Declaration in October 2003, highlighting new directions to reach the Almaty objectives. Most of the information comes from an ongoing World Bank knowledge program for trade and transit facilitation.
This is concrete example of aid for trade activities, both on the analytical and implementation side is the case of transit trade system to serve landlocked developing countries (LLDCS) – typically the most constrained and least economically integrated. The Almaty Programme of Actions (POA). The POA was launched in 2003 under the auspices of the United Nations and is the first global action plan negotiated at ministerial level to provide a framework for cooperation between landlocked and transit access developing countries, promising reductions in red tape and transportation costs and time. The 10-year Programme established for the first time agreement in principle on compensating landlocked countries for their geographical handicaps with improved market access and trade facilitation. Bank support to the POA. To support implementation activities for the Almaty Programme of Actions, the Bank (Trade Department in liaison with SDN and the Regions, notably Africa and ECA) initiated a specialized knowledge program targeting Trade and Transit Facilitation for LLDCs (supported by a BNPP grant). This program includes: case studies, data, and pilots of technical assistance (transit regimes and indicators). The Trade Department has been working with an Expert Group of the POA and has actively participated in Expert Group Meetings in support of the Almaty Programme. The Bank’s main message. For a long time emphasis has been on investments in road and railroad infrastructure. However, lack of infrastructure is no longer the major source of costs. Facilitation, governance, market structure and quality of service are the main sources of costs. Two directions are important: establishment of transit regimes (logistics under customs bonds through the transit country) and domestic reforms in the transit countries including adequate market for services. As a result, Bank projects (e.g. trade corridor project) are increasingly complemented by a “soft component” to make the investments truly reduce trade costs. For instance, the Bank’s emphasis on the importance of re-designing transit regime, an outcome of the program, is now widely accepted - such a reform has been piloted in Central Africa. Implementation in other regions will be supported by the Trade Facilitation Facility, currently under way. Related links: |
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