UN General Assembly
2004

Development Policy (CDP) to graduate us from the list of least developed countries has compounded the challenges to our development. We do take pride in our achievements in the social and economic sectors during the last two decades. However, we fear that graduation may cause enormous and irreparable damage to our economy, in the absence of a suitable mechanism to ensure sustained socio-economic development. In that context, we welcome the recommendation of the CDP and the decision of the Economic and Social Council earlier this year indicating the need to formulate smooth transition strategies for least developed countries prior to their graduation. We support in particular the recommendation to decide post-graduation transition arrangements on a case-by-case basis and to establish ad hoc country advisory groups to help formulate those arrangements. We strongly feel that it is important for the Economic and Social Council to formally endorse the arrangements proposed by the ad hoc country advisory groups while mandating the CDP with the task of monitoring the progress of newly graduated countries for any disruptions in their development.