Ulaanbaatar, November 7, 2025 /MONTSAME/. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator, and the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries jointly convened a consultative meeting on November 4 at UN House in Ulaanbaatar to discuss the implementation of the Awaza Programme of Action for LLDC (2024-2034).

Adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2024 and endorsed at the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Awaza, Turkmenistan, in August 2025, the Awaza Programme of Action (APoA) sets forth a 10-year global framework to address the special development challenges faced by 32 landlocked developing countries.

Multilateral negotiations held in New York from January to June 2024, co-chaired by Mongolia and Austria, played a pivotal role in shaping the APoA. The recent consultation brought together representatives from Mongolian government agencies, civil society, the private sector, academia, and international organizations to assess Mongolia’s opportunities and challenges across the five priority areas of the APoA, and to exchange perspectives on implementation strategies.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Jaap van Hierden, UN Resident Coordinator in Mongolia, emphasized the urgency of addressing the structural barriers faced by LLDCs. “LLDCs face unique constraints due to their lack of direct access to the sea. These constraints result in higher trade costs, limited connectivity, and slower economic growth. Mongolia, as one of the LLDCs, is deeply affected by these challenges,” he stated.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Enkhbold Vorshilov, former Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations and a principal contributor to the formulation of the APoA’s development, delivered the keynote address. He highlighted that, as of 2022, landlocked developing countries accounted for only 1.1 percent of global merchandise exports, 0.7 percent of services exports, and 0.3 percent of digital services, underscoring the persistent structural constraints faced by landlocked developing countries in integrating into the global economy.

Participants included representatives from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Office of the UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), as well as researchers from Mongolia’s transport, logistics, customs and e-development sectors, and scholars from the Mongolian National University and the Mongolian University of Life Sciences. 

Discussions emphasized that the effective implementation of the APoA requires integrating its recommendations into national development strategies, formulating a clear implementation roadmap, and strengthening cross-sectoral and international collaboration. The Mongolian-language edition of the APoA was officially launched during the workshop.