Global deal to help landlocked countries

Developing landlocked countries have agreed on a framework for cooperation with their maritime neighbours in a bid to ease massive transit costs which can gobble up to 50 percent of their export earnings - particularly in Africa.

The agreement was reached on Wednesday in the Kazakh city of Almaty, ahead of a UN-sponsored ministerial meeting of 30 landlocked countries and 33 transit access developing countries. Donor nations and international organisations are also taking part.

Landlocked Ethiopia - one of the lowest ranking countries on the UN Human Development Index - is taking part in the conference, as are its maritime neighbours Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia.

The preparatory talks were held in a bid to "reconcile outstanding differences between all parties", the UN said.

"These negotiations have focused very successfully on building a partnership between landlocked, transit and donor countries," UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury told a press conference.

Chowdhury is UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

The Almaty Programme of Action establishes, for the first time, agreement in principle on compensating the landlocked countries for their geographical handicaps with improved market access and trade facilitation.

It also reinforces the right of all countries to enjoy secure access to the sea and establishes a set of policy guidelines for reducing red tape for landlocked country exports, while also respecting the prerogatives of the access nations.

The Programme lays a foundation for strengthening national economies by cementing international and national commitment to upgrade rail, road, air and pipeline infrastructure in both the landlocked and the access countries.

In a recent interview with IRIN, Ishac Diwan, the World Bank head in Ethiopia, said the country was "truly isolated" due to massive transport costs. He stressed that costs had to be reduced so that the country could grow in a sustainable way.

"This country is taxed enormously by its geography and you need a lot of international support to reduce those transaction costs so a normal economy can function," he noted.

Since the border war with Eritrea in 1998, Ethiopia has lost its most direct outlet to the sea and now has to rely mainly on the port of Djibouti with significantly higher transportation costs.