Commissioner Patten's statement on landlocked developed countries

Mr. Chairman, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a particular honor and pleasure for me to be able to address this Ministerial Meeting of the Landlocked Developing Countries. The European Community has long been among the major donors addressing the specific needs of the Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and we will certainly vigorously pursue our programmes in this field in the years to come. In addition, we will continue to contribute to building partnerships between landlocked developing countries, sub-regional organizations and transit countries.

As landlocked countries you are particularly well aware of the value of regional cooperation to achieve the economic growth you need to reduce poverty and develop your societies. So are we, through the unique experience of European integration. That is why we work to facilitate the integration of sub-regional groupings and to support the development of sound trade and transport policies, with a regional as well as an international outlook.

The European Community is providing major funding for key regional transport corridors in Sub Saharan Africa. Among these I would mention especially the road and rail links from Dar es Salaam and Mombasa to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi; the road links from Douala port in Cameroon to Chad and the Central African Republic; the rail links from Beira port to Zimbabwe and the road links from Abidjan and Dakar to Mali and Burkina Faso. Support for these corridors promotes trade at both the national and regional level and is critical for investment plans in the regions concerned.

In the recently signed Cotonou Agreement particular account is taken of the specific problems of the Landlocked Countries. Programming of Cotonou is now well advanced with approximately one-third or 2.2 billion Euro of programmable funds likely to be allocated to transport in country programmes. A large part of these funds will go to the 15 Landlocked African states and their transit neighbors.

In Asia, we are supporting the transport corridor between Europe and Asia, known as TRACEA, which was started in 1993 and which is particularly important for Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Since 1998 our support has widened to a programme of transport policy cooperation, which we expect to lead to the introduction of unified transport documents and a "Tracea Visa" for facilitating customs and cross border procedures.

Our experience has been that working together with sub-regional organizations, multi-lateral partners and the donor community pays dividends. We are working particularly with SADC, COMESA, ECOWAS and UEMOA to build capacity in these institutions for developing transport strategies and programmes. The Sub Sahara Africa Transport Policy Programme is a partnership between the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the World Bank, which is very substantially supported by the EC and our Member States. This is a very good example of donor and partner country cooperation in developing sound transport policies and strategies.

Our Landlocked Developing Country friends sometimes give us the message "Just give us the money to re-build our infrastructure and economic growth will follow". We fully recognize this need, but building the infrastructure is not enough. Experience shows that such investment must be matched by transport sector reform, ensuring sufficient financing for maintenance, improved institutional performance and greater involvement of the private sector in works and service delivery. So we need a permanent dialogue between donors, regulators and operators within agreed sector programmes.

Efficient use of the different modes of transport is essential to reduce transport costs, which are otherwise such a major hindrance to the development of trade, which is itself so necessary for development. Efficiency of transport corridors, both road and rail, requires regional cooperation, public private investment through concessioning as well as getting the right fiscal and regulatory framework for equitable competition.

We are also working to improve air transportation in a range of developing countries. Only last week I signed six new agreements to finance the EU-Asian Civil Aviation Project including agreements with Bhutan, Laos and Nepal. The total value of the project is some 30 million Euro and its overall objective is to contribute to improve aviation safety and enable full growth potential to be met by the Asian aviation and aerospace industries.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to note that many of the problems currently facing Afghanistan are in some way related to its isolation as a landlocked country with inadequate links to the outside world. At present it is of course difficult to address long-term infrastructure needs in this unfortunate country. But I look forward to the day when we will be able to join with the Afghans, their neighbors and other donors in seriously addressing the development needs of the Afghan people, including the need for effective transportation, within their country and to their neighbors.

I wish you well in your deliberations.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

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