The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries has begun today at Istanbul’s Lutfi Kirdar Congress Center in Istanbul.

More than 10 thousand guests including presidents, ministers, parliamentarians, representatives of global private sector, scientists and members of non-governmental organizations from 192 UN-member countries are paticipating the UN conference.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly Joseph Deiss, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President Bamir Topi of Albania, President Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran, President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Prime Minister Yves Leterme of Belgium, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Nikoloz Gilauri of Georgia are among guests of the conference.

The conference brings together more than 50 heads of state and government, 10 vice-presidents, 94 ministers and chairmen of 47 international organizations in Istanbul.

President Abdullah Gul, chosen as the chairman of the conference, is set to hold bilateral talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of the sixty-fifth session of the UN General Assembly Deiss, European Commission President Barroso, President Boni Yayi of Benin, President Rupiah Banda of Zambia, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, President Filip Vujanovic of Montenegro, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, Vice-President Abd al-Rab Mansur Hadi of Yemen, Prime Minister Willy Telavi of Tuvalu, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and President Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will talk to leaders

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also set to hold bilateral talks with guests leaders including President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, European Commission President Barroso, Prime Minister Leterme of Belgium, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President of the sixty-fifth session of the UN General Assembly Deiss, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, President Bamir Topi of Albania, Prime Minister Gilauri of Georgia and President Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran.

Prime Minister Erdogan will host a luncheon in honor of guests of state and government, chairmen of delegations and CEOs of leading companies later in the day.

Tight security measures for Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul.

There are 48 least developed countries in the world with a population of nearly 900 million. These countries are struggling against chronical fundamental problems in their economy, development and human resources. The leeast devoloped countries include 33 African, 14 Pacifician and a Latin American states.

In 1971, the Least Developed Countries were recognized by the international community as a category of countries distinguished not only by widespread poverty, but also by the structural weakness of those countries’ economic, institutional and human resources, often compounded by geographical handicaps. The group, 25 countries at the time has been described by the United Nations as “the poorest and weakest segment of the international community” whose economic and social development presents a major challenge both for them and for their development partners.

The first United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries was 30 years ago

The UN General Assembly convoked the First United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Paris 30 years ago to respond to the special needs of the LDCs. To continue the focus on the need for special measures for those countries, the General Assembly convened the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, also in Paris, in 1990. The third conference was held in Brussels in 2001.

 

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