In an important UN conference on the current UN this week in Awaza, Turkmenistan, calls are growing to address high commercial costs, investment gaps and the growing digital division that continue to retain these countries.
Despite the progress in some areas, nations in developing without coastline, from Bolivia to Bután and Burkina Faso, represent only 1.2 percent of global exports, although they represent more than 7 percent of the world’s population.
Many of them are also less developed, facing some of the highest levels of poverty, food insecurity and economic vulnerability anywhere.
“These countries are invisible to much of the world,“He cannot attract the necessary attention to his unique challenges, said Rebeca Grynspan, general secretary of the UN trade and development agency, UNCTAD, speaking with UN news on the banks of the third UN conference on developing countries without coastline (LLDC3).
Without international attention and coordinated action, they will remain trapped in structural limbo, She emphasized.
High costs, low returns
One of the most persistent challenges they face is the geography itself.
Without direct access to maritime ports, they must trust neighbors to move goods, often through an outdated or inefficient infrastructure.
This translates into commercial costs that are, on average, 1.4 times higher than those of coastal countries, according to UNCTAD. In some cases, export procedures can be extended in weeks or months due to border delays, fragmented regulations and limited digital systems.
Mrs. Grynspan stressed that In customs procedures, digital tools can reduce waiting times at the borders of three days to three hours. To that end, regional agreements and digital initiatives have emerged as life lines.
An outstanding example is the Framework Agreement on the facilitation of cross -border without paper, defended by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAL). Now in force between several Pacific countries in Asia, it helps reduce paperwork, automate customs and harmonize standards, which makes the processes faster, cheaper and more transparent.
Paperless trade also has the potential to reduce corruption and relieve language -related challenges.
SEPAP estimates that the implementation of cross -border commercial measures could reduce commercial costs by up to 30 percent for countries in the region without direct access to the sea and increase the export potential for all Asia and the Pacific by almost $ 260 billion.
Infrastructure and integration
Even when the goods reach border crossings, weak national transport networks lean even more. Roads and railroads are often underdeveloped, sub -financed or vulnerable to climatic clashes.
“The regional infrastructure, such as the African North corridor, is crucial,“Mrs. Grynspan said, citing examples in which the waiting times at the borders have decreased significantly due to the investment and coordination of the corridor.
But the infrastructure alone is not enough: it must be paired with digital systems and solid regional associations.
“For countries without coastline, regional integration is very important because when it is integrated regionally, it is in a better position because the goods pass through you … (which makes you) part of the global value chains with the added value.”
In countries without coastline as Bután (in the photo), roads are a vital life line. But limited and expensive transport infrastructure restricts mobility, inflates commercial costs and makes access to markets, education and medical care difficult.
Escape basic products trap
Another structural challenge is the great dependence on basic products. More than 80 percent of developing countries without coastline depend on raw materials such as minerals, oil or agricultural goods, which makes them very exposed to global price changes and long -term decrease in terms of trade.
“You educate your people, but then they do not have to work because the products do not give the quality work you need for the future,“Mrs. Grynspan said.
The forward path lies in economic diversification, especially towards the manufacture of added value, digital services and knowledge -based sectors, industries that are less limited by geography.
The enigma of investment
However, to realize that potential, these countries need investment and are not receiving enough.
In spite of more than 135 legal and political reforms aimed at attracting foreign capital, foreign direct investment has decreased by an average of 2 percent in the last decade.
The esca analysis confirms this gap: countries without coastline in Asia are receiving much less infrastructure investment per person compared to coastal countries, despite the fact that their transport requirements are proportionally higher.
“Governments are trying to make their countries more attractive (but) the investment is not coming,“Mrs. Grynspan said.
High risk factors, lack of guarantees and dependence on short -term financing are deterring investors.
“Multilateral development banks should help us,“She added.”We need long -term affordable financing and a reduced capital cost.”