World's poorest nations aim to halve their number

Leaders of the world's poorest nations and their donors unveiled Friday a plan to cut the number of least developed countries (LDCs) by half from the present 48 within 10 years. The 33 states of Africa and 14 from Asia plus Haiti, with a per capita income of less than 745 dollars a year, aim to increase their productive capacities and promote investments to reach this goal.
"National policies of the LDCs and international support measures during the decade will focus on... specific objectives with the aim of enabling half the number of LDCs to meet criteria for graduation by 2020," the Istanbul Action Plan stated. Three Pacific island states, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, are already in line for graduating from LDC status in the next three to five years, Cheick Sidi Diarra, the secretary general of the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs, told reporters Friday. Equatorial Guinea, Angola and East Timor are also improving, while Nepal and Bangladesh are on the right track, he added.