In view of the upcoming 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 15), BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin participated in the 'Ministerial Meeting of the Landlocked Developing Countries' pre-event conducted on 2 September, 2021.
Focused on the preparations for UNCTAD 15, the session aimed to determine how to address the Landlocked Developing Countries' (LLDCs) respective trade and development interests in the Conference's outcome document.
Ms Bogdan-Martin noted that UNCTAD's Technology and Innovation Report 2021 urges all developing nations to prepare for a period of “deep and rapid technological change that will profoundly affect markets and societies."
ITU data shows that only 27% of the population in LLDCs are using the internet, against a global average of 51%." Ms Bogdan-Martin urged the need to enhance digital infrastructure, services and digital skills in all the LLDCs, so that populations can leverage the transformational potential of connectivity.
She stated that “digital technologies can play a powerful role in getting the SDGs back on track, and helping the LLDCs meet the goals and aspirations of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024."
Ms. Bogdan-Martin also emphasised the vital role that partnerships will play in connecting the unconnected. This is at the heart of ITU's new global Partner2Connect Digital Coalition which brings together various stakeholders around concrete connectivity commitments, particularly in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS.
Read the BDT Director's full remarks here.
