UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke at the Third United Nations Conference, which is taking place in the Avaza National Tourist Zone.
In his speech, he stressed that landlocked countries continue to face disproportionately high barriers to sustainable development, despite progress in recent years.
“Geography should not determine destiny,” Guterres told delegates from more than 30 countries, recalling that 32 landlocked developing countries still suffer from limited access to global markets, high transport costs, and narrow economic specialization based largely on commodity exports.
The UN chief called on the global community to step up efforts to support these countries and ensure their equal access to global economic opportunities. He paid special attention to sustainable logistics, digital transformation, infrastructure modernization, and improved access to healthcare, education, and social services.
The Secretary-General noted that international cooperation must be the basis for developing new strategies aimed at reducing inequality and the vulnerability of such countries to external economic and climate shocks.
