Mr. Manasvi Srisodapol, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, in his capacity as Special Envoy of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand and Head of the Thai Delegation, will attend the second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Vienna, Republic of Austria, during 3-4 November 2014.

The United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) is convened for the second time since the first conference at Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2003 where the Almaty Programme of Action was adopted. The objective of the conference is to review the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action and to provide the opportunity for leaders, development partners, transit countries and the international community to reaffirm their political commitment to address sustainable development challenges and multifaceted vulnerabilities resulting from geographical constraints, economic, social and environmental factors faced by LLDCs, currently consisting of 32Member States. The outcome document entitled “Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs for the Decade 2014-2024” of the meeting will also contribute as an input for the post-2015 development agenda. 

Thailand, as a transit country has steadily intensified partnership with developing countries including LLDCs, particularly in increasing regional connectivity with neighboring countries as meaningful contributions to transform landlocked into land-linked countries. We also attach great importance to enhanced hardware transport infrastructure and software standardization of rules for trade facilitation as well as the use of ICT as an important enabler for development. Thailand will also further reiterate our commitment to expand technical and academic cooperation with LLDCs in the areas of agro-business processing, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), local entrepreneurship stimulus programme (OTOP) and sustainable agriculture guided by His Majesty’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. 

The conference will also serve as an opportunity for Thailand to strengthen vibrant bilateral relations and review pending bilateral issues with LLDCs. In addition, Thailand will express its readiness and capacity to serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the term 2017 – 2018.