Five steps are needed to be taken in a bid to help the less-developed countries to reach the goals set forth in the Brussels Program of Action for least Developed Countries (LDCs) in a five-year course, a UN official said here Wednesday.

UN Under Secretary General Anwarul K. Chowdhury made the remarks as some 60 representatives from the Asia Pacific region' LDCs gathered to review their progress since 2001.

At the second day of the meeting for LDCs, the UN official said that since the adoption of the Brussels Program in 2001, 41 of the 50 LDCs worldwide have been averaging more than 6 percent per annum growth in GDP, the fastest average rate of growth they have registered for decades.

Of the 41, the number of LDCs that registered the above 3 percent GDP growth increased from 15 in 2004 to 19 in 2005.

Fourteen LDCs are located in the Asia-Pacific region with a combined population of 260 million, nearly two-fifths of the total LDCs population.

Anwarul urged the international community to actively engage in the process to help the LDCs realize the goals of the Brussels Program and highlighted five steps needed to advance the agenda in the next five years.

Domestic peace and political stability within LDCs is of paramount importance to the economic growth, followed by good and effective governance with appropriate people-centered development and social policies.

He said policies, projects and program to archive the program must be put in place with the assistance from development partners of LDCs. And the development partners should also come forward to provide additional resources needed to implement the Brussels goals in a timely manner.

The international trade and financial regimes, on the other hand, should provide special support to the development of LDCs by facilitating the growth of trade and market access and by providing debt relief, Anwarul added.

After the formulation of the Millennium Declaration in 2000, which set out concrete measures to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, the goals and targets were reaffirmed in the Brussels Program of Action for the Least Developed LDCs for the Decade 2001- 2010.

The strategy in the program of action details measures to be taken by LDCs and their development partners to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development.

Source: Xinhua