Forum of the Heads of States

The virtual forum was held at the level of heads of state and government at the initiative of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica Justin Trudeau and Andrew Holness.

The event was dedicated to the consolidation of international efforts in the field of financing for development in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, the press service of Akorda reported on March 29.

Speaking as Chairman of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the countries of the Group have faced a deadly combination of declining foreign investment, trade and remittances, growing financial debt and a serious reduction in budget capacity, which has led to a decline in their economies by an average of 2.4%.

The Head of State made a number of practical proposals aimed at reducing the financial deficit in the LLDCs countries caused by the consequences of the pandemic.

"It is extremely important to ensure that the World Bank's $ 160 billion anti - crisis package and the IMF's $ 1 trillion credit lines are focused on the most affected countries," Tokayev said
 
He called on global financial institutions, UN institutions, and other international and regiona.organizations to give priority to LLDCs in their efforts to restore economic growth.

At the same time, the Head of State highlighted the growing relevance of the UN Roadmap for the Accelerated Implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries, and called on all partner countries to take collective action to implement all seven activities identified in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, as well as to protect the current levels of official development assistance (ODA).

The President called on the international community to support the development of effective health systems in LLDCs, as well as the timely and adequate procurement of vaccines. He also stressed the need to promote sustainable infrastructure and trade facilitation mechanisms, support the achievement of digital transformation in the Group countries, and the need for active private sector participation in recovery efforts.

"Kazakhstan has contributed to the implementation of the UN Global Plan for Humanitarian Response and has provided assistance to a number of foreign countries in the fight against coronavirus," the President said.

Tokayev informed about the launch of the Kazakhstan International Development Agency "KazAID", as well as about the work on the creation of the UN Regional Center for the SDGs in Almaty with the possibility of providing assistance to the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan. The Head of State noted that Kazakhstan has taken such steps in solidarity with other countries and multilatera.organizations.

The forum was attended by the leaders of Argentina, Venezuela, Egypt, Italy, Canada, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, France, Ecuador, Japan, Jamaica and other countries, as well as the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the heads of the IMF, OECD, World Bank, WTO, the European Union and the African Union.