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Business Reporter

Landlocked developing countries including Zimbabwe remain marginalised in world trade contributing only one percent to global trade due to lack of territorial access and isolation from world markets United Nations Economic Commission Secretary-General Christian Friis Bach said landlocked developing countries face double the trade costs of coastal countries and long distances from major trading markets as such they were being left behind on world trade.Worse still, inefficiencies at borders are estimated to cost twice the amount spent on tariffs, duties, import taxes and fees and this made landlocked countries unattractive.

Mr Bach was speaking at the Fifth Meeting of Trade Ministers of Landlocked Developing Countries organised by the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) held on June 23-24 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The meeting was being held under the theme” Harnessing the trade potential of LLDCs to implement the Vienna program of action for LLDCs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha attended the meeting.

Highlighting the role of Trade Facilitation Agreement reached at WTO in 2013 for facilitating transit issues, especially for LLDCs, the meeting emphasised also on the need to invest more in modern transport infrastructure network and to ensure multi-modal bilateral and regional transport connectivity, according to a media release.