High-level discussions on international trade instruments necessary for economic growth in landlocked countries were held today by IRU and UN-OHRLLS. Umberto de Pretto, the IRU’s Secretary General, and Rabab Fatima, the UN-OHRLLS’s High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), debated possible solutions to the unique problem that the 32 LLDCs around the world face: lack of direct territorial access to the sea.
Umberto de Pretto, who supports the work of UN-OHRLLS, emphasized the importance of using tried-and-true UN tools that ease trade and transportation
Umberto de Pretto, who supports the work of UN-OHRLLS, emphasized the importance of using tried-and-true UN tools that ease trade and transportation, like the TIR system and its IT toolset, to remove soft obstacles and carry out the Vienna Programme of Action, which focuses on the difficulties faced by LLDCs. The Secretary General of IRU further pointed out that since the Vienna declaration was adopted more than ten years ago, no new LLDCs have joined the TIR convention despite all of the benefits of TIR that are known to exist. Umberto de Pretto, secretary general of the IRU, declared: “It is time for action and to implement the UN TIR Convention if landlocked developing countries are serious about achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and fostering trade, environmental protection, and social equity.”
In connecting businesses and communities to international markets, commercial road transport plays a vital role that has been acknowledged by UN-OHRLLS.
The third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in 2024 and the regional IRU gathering in Uzbekistan this September are both opportunities to promote road mobility in LLDCs, according to Umberto de Pretto. In connecting businesses and communities to international markets, commercial road transport plays a vital role that has been acknowledged by UN-OHRLLS. Landlocked nations can become land-connected nations because of road transport and TIR.
