Acharya highlights LDCs issues

Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gyan Chandra Acharya has highlighted the issues of the Least Developed Countries in a high-level meeting of the World Bank in Washington.

“The LDCs should be placed in a special category and they should be given special priority in all World Bank policies and programmes,” said Acharya in the meeting on Wednesday.

He further emphasised the need for the establishment of an LDC division in the WB, said a statement issued today quoting the Nepal’s permanent mission to the UN as saying.

Acharya had a couple of meetings with WB representatives. In separate meetings with Yifu Lin, senior vice-president and chief economist of the WB, and other executive directors from developed and developing countries, he briefed the ongoing preparations for the upcoming Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs to be held in Istanbul of Turkey in 2011.

Acharya also called for the WB’s strong support and active participation in the conference, stated the press release. He also called for the representation of the LDCs in all economic and financial governance forums that will discuss global economic and development issues.

During the meetings with the WB representatives, Acharya discussed the issues pertaining to trade integration, investment, infrastructure and productive capacity building in the LDCs, said the release.