麻豆APP

His Excellency Lok Bahadur Thapa, Chair of the LDC Group
 and President of ECOSOC 
H.E. Dr. Ribuan Korun, Secretary General, National Commission for ESCAP
Excellencies,
Distinguished Colleagues,

Allow me to begin by once again expressing my deep appreciation to the Royal Government and the people of Cambodia for the warm hospitality and excellent arrangements made for this meeting.
I offer my sincere congratulations to the Government of Cambodia for its leadership in delivering a highly successful meeting.  I wish to especially thank Senior Minister Ly Thuch and his excellent team for their tireless efforts over the past weeks to ensure this success.
I thank the Chair of the LDC Group, Amb. Thapa, for his steadfast leadership and for his support to ensure a successful conclusion here.
I thank ESCAP for co-organizing this meeting with us, and for the crucial work in advancing the LDC agenda in the region.
I also thank our fellow UN organizations, and representatives of international and regional organizations for their valuable contributions.  
My special thanks to the Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team in Cambodia for their excellent support and cooperation.
I also wish to acknowledge with deep appreciation the generous support of the State of Qatar in organizing this meeting. 
To all participants, particularly our development partners, I thank you for your valuable insights and recommendations on the implementation of the DPOA.  
With 2030 fast approaching, the urgency of our collective efforts and partnership cannot be overstated.
Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues,
The past two days have been intense, but highly productive.
I congratulate you on the adoption by consensus, the outcome document of this meeting, which captures the key priorities and takeaways from our deliberations.
Allow me to highlight five key takeaways from this review meeting.
First:  a central message from our discussions is that structural transformation in Asia-Pacific LDCs must be anchored in sustained investment in people.
 While progress has been made, significant gaps persist in human capital development, particularly in access to quality education, healthcare, and social protection. Strengthening inclusive and adaptive social protection systems is therefore essential - not only to reduce poverty and vulnerability, but also to respond to evolving demographic dynamics, including ageing populations in some countries and rapidly expanding youth populations in others. 
Such systems are critical to building resilience, facilitating labour market transitions, and enabling more inclusive and sustainable economic transformation.
At the same time, it was underscored that traditional industrialization pathways are becoming increasingly complex. This calls for more targeted and context-specific strategies to build productive capacities, enhance value addition, and support sectors with the greatest potential for job creation.
In this regard, the outcome document adopted today offers practical guidance to boost competitiveness and advance structural economic transformation.
Second: the discussions highlighted the dual role of digitalization and emerging technologies - particularly artificial intelligence.
On the one hand, the rapid expansion of AI risks deepening existing digital divides, as many LDCs lack the infrastructure, data ecosystems, and skills to fully participate.
On the other hand, if effectively harnessed, these technologies can become powerful tools to bridge gaps in service delivery, education, productivity, social protection, and market access.
This underscores the urgency of investing in digital infrastructure, skills, and inclusive technology governance, to ensure that LDCs are not left further behind in the digital economy.
Third:  Asia-Pacific is home to 4 small island developing States and 3 landlocked developing countries among the LDC group, each facing distinct structural challenges.
SIDS continue to grapple with geographic isolation, climate exposure, and high economic volatility, while LLDCs face high transit costs, trade bottlenecks, and external dependence.
These compounded vulnerabilities were highlighted as particularly critical in the context of sustainable development and resilience building of these countries, where shocks can quickly erode decades of development gains.
We had focused discussions on how a more systematic application of tools such as the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index better captures these realities and inform more tailored and equitable support.
Another key highlight was that graduation is accelerating in this region, but the pathway must be better supported and more risk-informed.
With 7 out of 11 Asia-Pacific LDCs on the graduation trajectory, the importance of smooth, sustainable and irreversible transition was strongly emphasized.
In this regard, the importance of integrated approaches - bringing together trade, finance, technology, and capacity-building - was strongly emphasized.
Fourth: mobilizing adequate and predictable financial resources must remain a top priority.  
There was a consistent message that financing remains the most critical enabler, and constraint - across all priority areas.
Of course, action is required on multiple fronts.
Domestic resource mobilization must be significantly scaled up.
At the same time, development partners need to fulfil their ODA commitments, including those reaffirmed in the outcome of the FFD4 Conference. 
Stronger support from international financial institutions, multilateral and regional development banks, and the private sector will also be critically important.
And finally, I wish to highlight the impact of the geo-political turmoil, including the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, which is severely impacting energy prices, food security, manufacturing, and remittances.
These crises have once again put a sharp spotlight on the serious vulnerabilities that LDCs have against sudden external shocks.  It is, therefore, more urgent than ever to enhance their resilience against such shocks.
Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues,
This meeting is the first of two regional reviews being held as part of the preparatory process for the Mid-term Review of the Doha Programme of Action, to take place in Doha, Qatar, in March 2027.  
These meetings are critically important for building momentum towards an ambitious outcome. 
The outcome document adopted today will provide important guidance for advancing the implementation of the DPOA in the second half of this decade.
The road toward the Mid-term Review will be intense, with a full calendar of meetings, and intergovernmental processes.  
My Office, in collaboration with all relevant partners, will remain fully engaged to support your efforts at every stage.
As we move forward, we count on your continued support and collaboration to make the Mid-term Review a truly momentous and transformative milestone.
Allow me to make an early call for the highest-level participation from your countries in the Mid-term Review.
Finally, I wish to thank Team Cambodia, and Teams OHRLLS and ESCAP for your dedication, commitment and hard work in delivering a truly successful meeting.
I thank you all once again for your support and contributions. I wish you all a safe journey back home.
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