Kathmandu, Aug. 6
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that to deepen the South-South cooperation for the successful implementation of the Awaza Programm of Action, the partners must harness South-South and triangular cooperation to promote regional integration by investing in resilient physical and digital infrastructure.
Likewise, they must work collectively to develop trade and transit corridors, modernise infrastructure, and harmonise customs procedures to enhance cross border trade and investment.
“It is critical to establish the Infrastructure Investment Facility for Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), enabling us to finance priority development projects. We must also embrace and accelerate digital transformation to participate meaningfully in the global digital economy,” said PM Oli while speaking at the opening of the Ministerial Meeting on South-South Cooperation at the third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Awaza of Turkmenistan on Wednesday.
He urged the LLDCs to seize this moment to reinvigorate South-South cooperation as a dynamic force for shared progress while stressing the urgency of the need.
He said that while geography should never limit human ambition—especially in today’s interconnected and technologically advanced world, for LLDCs, geographical constraints remain a significant structural barrier to progress.
According to PM Oli, a confluence of global crises – geopolitical tensions, food and energy security, rising inflation, and shrinking fiscal space has further intensified the challenges for the LLDCs.
“In the face of these compounding pressures, LLDCs are striving to mobilise domestic resources, attract foreign investment, and secure development assistance. But progress is faltering: Official Development Assistance and Foreign Direct Investment flows to LLDCs are on a persistent decline,” said PM Oli.
According to his speech delivered at the meeting sent to the media by the PM’s secretariat, most often, development cooperation is misaligned with national priorities, limiting its long-term impact while the accelerating impacts of climate change continue to disproportionately erode the hard-won development gains of LLDCs.
PM Oli said that in an endeavour in structural transformation, South-South Cooperation can be instrumental to support LLDCs.
“Rooted in solidarity, mutual respect, and shared ownership, South-South Cooperation promotes peer learning, capacity development, and technology transfer tailored to the unique needs and aspirations of LLDCs—helping to build a more equitable and inclusive growth,” he said.
Likewise, speaking at ‘High-Level Thematic Roundtable 2: Seizing the Transformative Potential of Trade, Trade Facilitation, and Regional Integration for LLCs’, PM Oli said that trade is a powerful engine of economic growth in the interconnected and interdependent world.
“Trade can significantly contribute to socio-economic development of LLDCs, like others. But, despite their huge trade potential, LLDCs account for just over one percent of global trade in goods,” he maintained.
Stating that with sincere implementation of these measures, LLDCs can harness their trade potentials for inclusive and sustainable development, PM Oli said that the countries need to strengthen cooperation and partnership at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels to achieve it.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), Ismail Ersahin, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on the sideliens of the conference on Wednesday.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 7 August 2025.
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