Least Developed Countries Category

This event brought together LDCs and development partners and presented some supporting tools currently being developed by the CDP and EIF

This paper analyzes the advantages that LDCs have derived from the various LDC-specific international support measures due to their LDC status. It identifies the reasons why some UN development system organizations may not use the LDC category in their allocation of development assistance and support measures.The analysis focuses on support from the UNDS organizations related to ODA and general support measures. Trade related support measures fall under the purview of the World Trade Organization, and are not discussed in this paper. The analysis was undertaken in the context of a UN General Assembly mandate in response to the Mid-term Review of the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs for the Decade 2011-2020.

Angola Equator

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 proposes how to use Special Economic Zones to mitigate identified constraints to set Nepal on a path of structural transformation.

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, and its development to a large extent the product of an activist developmental state. The paper then examines growth and diversification of exports and the country's recent efforts to effectively exploit its natural resources. An analysis of public and private investment and the underlying allocation of financial resources finds that a recent upturn in domestic investment has been financed largely by foreign aid, and that private financing remains too low. Finally, the paper addresses educational attainment, arguing that Ethiopia has some distance to go in its attempts to close the large human capital gap relative to other low-income countries.

In a special briefing during the 19th Plenary Session of the CDP members briefed delegates on lessons learned in building productive capacity in least developed countries (LDCs) – those who have graduated and those in the process of graduating

Bhutan has graduated from the LDC category by specializing in natural resource-based activities (hydropower generation) and tourism, with some manufacturing

The briefing will provide information about current and future activities in which the CDP Secretariat is engaged

EGM to explain the concept behind the LDC graduation toolkit; solicit feedback and establish possible partnerships