10 year review meeting almaty programme of action to take place in Addis Ababa

Abstract

Long delays in inland transport, customs and port handling procedures are common in developing countries across the world, especially those that are landlocked. In Africa, it takes over 30 days to export or import, (with the exception of North Africa), compared to about 11 days for OECD countries. In addition, in general, lack of territorial access to the sea, remoteness and isolation from world markets and high transit costs impose serious constraints on the overall socio-economic development of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs). To address this challenge the Almaty Programme of Action (APoA) was adopted in 2003 in Almaty Kazakhstan at the International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries. In this respect, the African Regional Review Meeting on the Almaty Programme of Action will be held on 16-18 July in Addis Ababa on the theme: Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked Developing Countries within a New Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries.