The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development urged industrialized nations on Thursday to continue support for the least developed countries through official development assistance and direct investment, saying liberalization of global trade has not contributed to the economic growth of those countries.
Trade liberalization in LDCs is progressing faster than in other developing countries, UNCTAD said in its biennial report on LDCs, noting that exports of goods from them increased 45 percent in nominal terms over the four years from 1998 to an all-time high of
$ 37.8 billion in 2002.
But their current-account balances deteriorated because imports surpassed exports as a result of market-opening, UNCTAD said.
Factors hindering LDCs' growth include drops or changes in international prices of cotton, sugar and other primary products, weak state finance and the effects of infectious diseases such as AIDS, it added.
The U.N. organ will hold a general assembly in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in June, where the report may add fuel to debate between developed and developing countries on trade, development and economic growth against the backdrop of their conflict in trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization.Asian Economic News:
