Key Issues
In recent years, economic growth in the least developed countries as a group has significantly improved. However, a number of those countries, particularly in Africa, are not achieving economy-wide gains in productivity, value added by domestic producers and long-term structural change.
Many least developed countries are now at an economic crossroads where they face two challenges:
- More and more people are seeking work outside agriculture, and urbanization is spreading, but there is no matching job creation
- The least developed countries must manage this transition in an open-economy where international competition has grown much stiffer
Purpose of the event
UNCTAD's Least Developed Countries Report series maintains that the key to achieving sustained development and poverty reduction in the least developed countries is to put the development of productive capacities - and the related expansion of productive employment - at the heart of national and international policies. This will require a paradigm shift in current national and international policies featuring a different approach to poverty reduction, development strategies and international trade.
The round table will discuss alternative policies, including a production-based approach to poverty reduction; macroeconomic policies geared towards growth, investment and employment; and sectoral policies linking macroeconomic and microeconomic processes.
Expected outcome/deliverables
The round-table discussion should lead to new directions in policy action by governments of least developed countries and the international community, providing answers to the following questions:
- How can science, technology and innovation be an entry point for the design of policies to promote the development of productive capacities in least developed countries?
- How can official development assistance be reoriented to become more effective?
- How can least developed countries galvanize domestic resources to finance their development?
- Which measures by the international community are most likely to support the development of productive capacity in least developed countries?
Contact:
Mr. Charles Gore
Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes
Tel.: +41 22 917 59 44
Fax: +41 22 917 00 46
E-mail: charles.gore
unctad.org