麻豆APP

His Excellency Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority,
His Excellency Lok Bahadur Thapa, Chair of the LDC Group and President of ECOSOC
Executive Secretary of ESCAP Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana,
Honorable Ministers,
Ms. Vladanka Andreeva, UN Resident Coordinator in Cambodia
Excellencies,
Distinguished Colleagues,

I am very pleased to welcome you to the Asia-Pacific Ministerial meeting for the mid-term review of the Doha POA, in this beautiful city of Phnom Penh.

Allow me at the outset to express my sincere appreciation to the Royal Government of Cambodia for hosting this important meeting. 

I thank the Hon’ble Minister Ly Thuch for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to us and for the excellent arrangements made. 

I thank and commend Ambassador Lok Bahadur Thapa, for his continued strong leadership of the LDC Group.  I also thank you for keeping the LDC issues high on the UN agenda during your presidency of ECOSOC.

I thank ESCAP and my dear colleague, Executive Secretary Armida, for their strong partnership and tireless efforts in organizing this meeting, and for the background report.

I also recognize the presence here of the UN Resident Coordinators and colleagues from the UN family from across the region.  Their presence here is a testament to the strong commitment of the UN system at large to the LDC agenda. 

I thank the Hon’ble Ministers and all distinguished participants from across the region for joining us.  Your presence reflects the importance of the agenda before us. 

Excellencies,

We meet at a moment marked by cascading and compounding global crises.

 Progress on the SDGs remains seriously off-track. Development assistance is declining. Trade restrictions are increasing. Climate disasters are intensifying. 

And it is the most vulnerable countries - the LDCs - that continue to bear the heaviest burden.

Today, more than 380 million of the world’s extreme poor live in LDCs. Poverty rates remain nearly three times the global average. 

Economic growth in LDCs has stagnated at around 4.1%, well below the 7% SDG target. Meanwhile, total external debt has tripled since 2010 to nearly 586 billion dollars, and ODA fell by nearly 3% in 2024.   

Digital exclusion also remains a major constraint. Nearly 720 million people in LDCs remain offline, excluded from the opportunities of the digital economy.

And the ongoing crisis in the Middle East has further compounded their pre-existing vulnerabilities, sending shockwaves through markets and supply chains. 

For many LDCs, which are highly dependent on imported energy, food and maritime transport, such disruptions quickly translate into increased economic instability.

Excellencies,

Against this backdrop, this review process we begin today assumes particular significance. 

It marks the formal launch of the comprehensive Mid-Term Review of the DPOA, mandated by the UN General Assembly, to be held in Doha, Qatar, from 25-27 March 2027.

The DPOA provides a comprehensive roadmap, structured around six priority areas and 116 targets, aimed at strengthening productive capacities, building resilience and supporting sustainable graduation.

This Asia-Pacific regional review offers an important opportunity to assess progress, identify persistent gaps and recalibrate our collective efforts for the remainder of the decade.

Allow me to briefly highlight key trends across the six priority areas in the region.

On the priority area of investing in people, there has been progress in expanding social protection. Cambodia, for example, increased coverage of at least one social protection from 6.2% in 2019 to over 20% in 2022. 

Yet across most LDCs, less than one quarter of the population is covered, well below the regional average.

Health financing also remains uneven. While some countries meet the 5% GDP benchmark, others remain below this threshold.

In education, access to electricity in primary schools has improved. However, access to the internet for teaching and learning remains highly uneven.

On the second priority of science, technology and innovation – STI - internet usage is expanding gradually across the region.  Yet fixed broadband penetration remains very low - often below 5 subscriptions per 100 people, far from the 35% target set for 2031.

Progress has been modest on the priority area of structural transformation. Labour productivity has stagnated or declined since 2021, and most economies remain concentrated, in low-productivity sectors such as agriculture.

On the fourth DPOA priority of trade and regional integration, the LDCs continue to account for less than 1 per cent of region’s exports.

However, it is encouraging to see that some countries, such as Cambodia and Lao PDR, have fully implemented their commitments under the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.

At the same time, digitally deliverable services remain a major untapped opportunity.

On climate resilience, seven of ten Asia Pacific LDCs have now submitted National Adaptation Plans. Yet climate  related losses remain high, and access to multi hazard early warning systems is still limited.

Finally, on partnerships and graduation, we are witnessing a historic moment.  

Following Bhutan’s graduation in 2023, Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Nepal are scheduled to graduate in 2026, Solomon Islands in 2027 and Cambodia in 2029. 

This represents the largest wave of graduation in the history of the LDC category.

However, graduation also brings new challenges, as countries start to lose access to international support measures.

Without predictable and sustained support from development partners, there is a risk that hard-won development gains could be reversed.

The UNGA mandated open-ended working group on smooth transition, which has just started its work in New York, is an important opportunity for the LDCs and their development partners to come up with a reinvigorated pathway to graduation considering the current global landscape.

Excellencies,

As we chart the course for the remaining five years of the DPOA, I am pleased to report that we have achieved good progress in operationalizing the five key DPOA deliverables - each designed to address specific development priorities and structural challenges facing the LDCs.

The Resilience Building Mechanism, supported by $11 million seed contribution from the Government of Qatar, aims to strengthen LDCs' capacity to anticipate, withstand and recover from multiple shocks - including through early warning systems and the development of National Adaptation Plans. 

The Food Stockholding Mechanism, with a seed capital of $10 million, has moved from concept to design. With over half a billion people in LDCs facing food insecurity, this initiative is critically important. We are finalizing its governance and organizational structure, with a phased pilot programme expected to be operational by the mid-term review.

The Online University for LDCs aims to close the widening tertiary educational gap. Enrolment in LDCs stands at just 11%, far behind the global average of over 40%. A High-Level Task Force is now working on the governance, accreditation and sustainable funding model of the University, with operationalization targeted for 2027.

The Sustainable Graduation Support Facility- iGRAD, led by my Office and supported by the IATF, is already providing demand-driven support to graduating and graduated countries. 

Graduation readiness assessments have been completed for Bangladesh and Nepal; and last December, we convened a landmark high-level meeting in Doha bringing together graduating and graduated countries to share experiences and identify priorities for managing post-graduation risks. 

The recommendations from that meeting will serve as an important contribution to the work of the open-ended working group on smooth transition that I mentioned earlier.  

And, the fifth deliverable, the International Investment Support Centre has likewise demonstrated its catalytic potential. A recent Investment Forum for S?o Tomé and Príncipe, a recently graduated LDC, generated approximately $440 million in financial commitments.

Additionally, my Office is implementing three projects funded by the UN Peace and Development Fund, with a budget of $3.5 million, supporting graduation, STI and e-commerce priorities in a number of LDCs.

Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues,

As we move into the second half of the Doha Programme of Action allow me to highlight three priorities for accelerating implementation.

First: we must urgently address the widening financing gap facing LDCs.

This will require action on multiple fronts.

Domestic resource mobilization will need to be strengthened. 

Many LDCs still collect less than 10% of GDP in tax revenue, well below the 15% benchmark needed to finance development. Continued efforts to strengthen tax systems, broaden the tax base, improve governance, and invest in productive capacities and digital infrastructure will therefore be essential.

At the same time, it is important that international commitments are fully honoured - including longstanding ODA targets, climate finance pledges under the COP process, and the commitments of the Sevilla Conference on Financing for Development.

Greater emphasis will also need to be placed on South–South and triangular cooperation, enabling emerging economies and regional partners to contribute through technology transfer, knowledge sharing and investment partnerships.

Second: it is critical to accelerate structural transformation and strengthen productive capacities.

Greater investment in infrastructure, digital connectivity, skills development and innovation ecosystems will enable LDCs to diversify their economies and move up regional and global value chains.

Efforts to enhance trade competitiveness and economic diversification must also continue. Reducing trade costs, addressing non-tariff barriers, expanding digital services exports and attracting strategic foreign direct investment can help integrate LDC economies more effectively into global markets. 

And there are many good examples of these in the region, from which we can draw important lessons, and we look forward to important reflections on those over the next two days. 

And finally:  stronger international support for graduating and graduated countries will be a critical priority for this region.

With 7 out of 11 LDCs in the region on various stages of the graduation pathway, we must ensure that graduation becomes a springboard for these countries toward sustainable development.

It would be imperative to ensure predictable smooth transition measures and incentives, such as continued market access, capacity-building, technology transfer and climate finance.

Excellencies,

Following this Asia-Pacific review, the African regional review will take place in Addis Ababa in June. 

This will be followed by a dedicated LDC session at the High-Level Political Forum in July, and a joint General Assembly–ECOSOC day-long event on the Mid-Term Review.

The outcomes of these meetings will feed into the political declaration in November 2026 and the expert preparatory meeting in early 2027, culminating in the high-level MTR in March 2027. 

And we count on the strong participation of your delegations in all these processes which will ultimately shape the outcome of the MTR. 

Excellencies,

The DPOA, adopted 5 years ago, ushered in a new era of hope and ambition for more than 1.1 billion people living in the world’s 44 LDCs.

The MTR must, therefore, be more than an assessment exercise. It must be a decisive moment to accelerate implementation and deliver tangible improvements in the lives and livelihoods of those we serve. 

We must seize this opportunity to renew political commitment, strengthen partnerships, and mobilize the  resources for the world’s most vulnerable countries.

I am confident that the deliberations here in Phnom Penh will make a vital contribution to shaping that renewed momentum.

I thank you.