Export concentration has long been recognized as a key indicator of the development progress of least developed countries (LDCs). This paper presents the refined export concentration index recently included in the criteria used for identifying LDCs. The refined index is a Theil index that covers both concentration in the basket of exported products and concentration in the set of export markets, thereby capturing two dimensions of vulnerability due to undiversified export structures. The paper shows that relative to other developing countries, LDCs are less diversified both in terms of export products and export markets, contributing to their heightened vulnerability.
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Least developed countries (LDCs) benefit from specific flexibilities under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), including an extended transition period for implementation of the agreement. These flexibilities cease to apply when countries graduate from the LDC category. Cambodia, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia are among the countries that have recently started the graduation process, which consists of a series of stages over several years and involves analysis of quantitative and qualitative information, including the expected impacts of graduation. In that context, this study analyses the policy and developmental…
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The United Kingdom has adopted a new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) which comprises three different regimes ? one for least developed countries (LDCs), one for non-LDC economically vulnerable low-income and lower-middle-income countries, and one for other low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Compared to the previous scheme, which largely mirrored the European Union?s, the DCTS makes it easier for an LDC to accede to the intermediary ?Enhanced Preferences? scheme when it graduates. For most countries, graduation from the LDC category will have little impact on trade with the United Kingdom, and less impact than it might have had under the previous regime. Impacts will be…
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When a country leaves ("graduates" from) the least developed countries (LDC) category, there is often concern about the impacts on the support it will receive from the international community. This paper reviews, as part of a preliminary assessment for the countries the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) will assess in 2024 (Cambodia, Comoros, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia), the expected impacts on financial and technical assistance and on support for the participation of these countries in international forums. Impacts on trade, often found to be the most significant, will be assessed separately. The general preliminary conclusion is that the impacts on development cooperation will be…
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This paper provides conceptual inputs on a potential bi-modal monitoring framework for the Least Developed Country (LDC) category. The focus is on discussing its general aspects, in order to help build, among key stakeholders, a common understanding of the general direction such an initiative might take. It intends to help move discourse (and practices) from (reactive) crisis management to (proactive) resilience management, representing a change in perspective likely to help move the process of LDC monitoring forward in a meaningful manner, qualifying the contribution that the CDP might provide in this regard. With an improved framework, vulnerable countries will be able to preventively…
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Migration and the growth of global diasporas are key contemporary trends which impact on the pledge to ?leave no one behind? in the 2030 Agenda. The developmental potential of migration is captured in four Goals and five Targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper offers critical perspectives on the SDGs targets with a discussion on the economic challenges as well as the opportunities for trade and entrepreneurship.
The focus is particularly on remittances (including South-South remittances) and other financial investments such as diaspora savings and bonds. The second area of analysis is financial innovation through the growth of money transfer organizations in LDCs (i.…
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Least developed countries (LDCs) are characterized by limited productive capacities, which constrains their efforts towards structural transformation and sustainable development. At the same time, the actual policy choices countries that have graduated or have made significant progress towards graduation from the LDC category provide a wide range of lessons other LDCs and the international community can learn from. Whereas countries can be on different pathways towards graduation, a diverse set of social, macroeconomic, financial, agricultural and industrial policies can be effective. However, good development governance is the key factor for successfully expanding productive capacity.
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This paper analyzes opportunities for growth in Nepal by applying the policy tool of New Structural Economics ? Growth Identification and Facilitation Framework (GIFF). Drawing on firm level surveys, stakeholder interviews, and existing datasets it aims to contribute to policy discussions in Nepal and to demonstrate the use of the GIFF for other least developed countries. The report argues that Nepal should seek to capture industrial transfer from China to establish a foothold in global value chains, create employment and catalyze structural transformation. The report identifies product-level advantages arising from preferential market access and sector-specific binding constraints, and…
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This paper examines the process of building productive capacity in Ethiopia over the past two decades and the roles played by the state, government, the private sector, foreign firms and development partners. Productive capacity is defined broadly as the natural resource potential, accumulation of human capital and the institutions that facilitate inclusive and sustainable economic growth. This process also encompasses the nurturing modern entrepreneurial skills in the private sector and fostering innovation. The paper starts with an overview of Ethiopia's economic growth and the change in the domestic economic structure. The manufacturing sector is seen as the success of Ethiopia's Growth…
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The conventional approach to least developed country (LDC) graduation has considered these countries as an undifferentiated group whose problems could be solved by means of similar measures focusing on domestic and international liberalisation, preferential aid allocations, and the promotion of their exports by means of trade preferences and free market access. This paper tries to go beyond this analytical and policy tradition and attempts to identify different LDC clusters in which underdevelopment is caused by specific economic and social conditions, and for which the solution depends not only on traditional support measures, but also on the implementation of differentiated, country-…
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