LDCs in Need of Huge Investments: DPM Shrestha

Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha has said the least developed countries (LDCs) are in need of huge investments. He stressed that such investment is needed in green and resilient industries, education, health, science and technologies, and agriculture.

"More than ever, LDCs need quality, sustainable, and resilient infrastructures for energy, transportation, and digital connectivity," DPM Shrestha said while addressing the LDCs' Summit in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday.

He further said we need robust social security and resilient health systems for protecting and securing the well-being of the most vulnerable groups of our society, and for developing and utilizing human resource potential.

Inclusive and effective institutions

DPM Shrestha mentioned that LDCs need inclusive and effective institutions for better governance at home as well as at the global level. The fruit of development generated by globalization has eluded us for decades. It is true that we have achieved some progress; yet continue to be on the margin of global economic development.

While we are grateful for the assistance we have received, we call on our development partners for scaling up support, as our economies are facing the onslaught of mega-global crises, such as the pandemic, conflicts, and climate disasters.

Therefore, the LDCs urge the development partners to fully meet their ODA commitments. ODA resources must increase along with concrete debt relief measures to overcome the challenges of rising debt and inflation, Shrestha reminded.

According to him, Doha Program of Action is a blueprint for renewed and strengthened global partnership based on the principle of leaving no one behind. LDCs, therefore, call on our development partners for concrete and substantial support in a spirit of shared responsibility and mutual accountability for the effective implementation of DPOA.

LDCs worst victims of the climate crisis

"The LDCs are the worst victims of the climate crisis. As a matter of justice and for the survival of our economies and societies, the climate finance commitments made for adaptation, mitigation, loss, and damage must be fully operationalized, with simplified access to LDCs, " he argued and stressed technology transfer, including the digital ones, must be ensured as they can catalyze SDG implementation, help combat pandemics and other crises.

He also suggested that beyond incremental steps, we must take bold steps to reform the global economic and financial system with a view to making it just and equitable which would ensure the voice and effective participation of the developing world.

According to him, as in the 1980s, the LDCs need to transform the structures of their economies, with the stronger industrial capacity, better productivity, and an expanded export base. For decades, LDC’s GDP and share of export in world trade have stayed around one percent, whereas they represent 14% of the global population.

Nepal's constitution recognizes basic needs, services

He made aware the world community that the Constitution of Nepal recognizes basic needs and services like education, health, food, water, and sanitation as human rights. Our development plans have internalized global policy frameworks like the Agenda 2030, Paris Agreement, and UN programs for LDCs and LLDCs into our national plans and programs.

Moreover, DPM Shrestha, who is leading the Nepali Delegation at LDCs' Summit in Doha, shared that Nepal is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045.

"We are implementing a transition strategy for smooth and irreversible LDC graduation. We are committed to exerting all-out efforts for the effective implementation of DPOA and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development to ensure that the graduation process would be smooth and sustainable," he stated.

Similarly, the DPM reminded that it had been more than half a century since 1971 when the United Nations recognized the least developed countries (LDCs) as a group that needed focused support measures for their development.  Even after the implementation of four dedicated programs of action since 1981, support measures had proven insufficient and the LDCs still constitute about one-fourth of the UN membership as we arrive in 2023, DPM Shrestha mentioned.

"The big question before us is why and how we continue to suffer from perpetuity of poverty and underdevelopment," he wondered, adding that the answer lies, among others, in the lack of sufficient and impactful support measures and meaningful collaboration to implement the programs of action.