Least developed country transition

The achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hinges on progress made within the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

As Commonwealth LDCs begin to move out of the category, alternative support measures and new partnerships will be required to assist in a smooth, sustained, transition process. Least Developed Country Transition focuses on two groups of Commonwealth LDCs: LDCs graduating in the near future and that exhibit the greatest economic vulnerability to a trade shock induced by graduation and loss of accompanying tariff preferences; and those that remain far from graduation but experience severe economic vulnerabilities and susceptibility to extreme environmental shocks.

For both groups of Commonwealth LDCs, the objective of the research (based on case study analyses of Bangladesh, Mozambique and Solomon Islands) was to identify areas where international support measures could be improved in order to boost export diversification and therefore reduce economic vulnerability.