CEOs from 20 Least Developed Countries present a 5-point strategy for economic growth to the LDC5 Conference

Learn more about the Doha 5-point private sector strategy for SDG advancement.

Leadership from 20 employers’ federations from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) presented Heads of State and UN leaders attending the 5^th LDC Conference with a call for action urging governments and multilateral institutions to put more effort into tackling the obstacles to economic growth in LDCs and, importantly, include the private sector as an essential partner in sustainable development.

Among the action points in the five-point strategy are urgent calls for governments to:

• Pursue comprehensive and innovative strategies to tackle informality and promote the transition to the formal economy. Employers request that countries review their regulatory and administrative frameworks to reduce these barriers and facilitate transitions in the formal economy.
• Create an enabling environment for business that fosters entrepreneurship, job creation, economic growth, sustainable development, trade, and market openness. This specifically means the development and implementation of easy-to-understand, employment-friendly labour and tax regulations that promote the full scope of employment opportunities and decrease the burden of non-wage labour costs.
• Establish effective and efficient public policies, services, and governance - including sustainable social protection schemes, education and skills development systems - that are transparent, accountable, responsive, combat corruption with more ambition, and align with labour market needs.

In a just-released publication, the LDC Business Report, IOE details the significant barriers preventing economic growth in 25 LDC countries. These include unclear tax regulations; excessive and competing administrative procedures; unreliable social and physical infrastructures, difficulty accessing finance and foreign currency; and poorly designed and inadequate legal frameworks and labour systems.

The IOE LDC Business Delegation includes the Presidents of employers’ organisations from Angola, Benin, Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Iraq, Mali, Nepal, Senegal and Zambia. These men and women are well-positioned to assess the barriers to growth and development and provide innovative actions to remove them.

According to these high-level representatives, the most sustainable path to reducing poverty and inequality is engaging with businesses and adopting the five-point strategy presented to global leaders during the LDC5 Conference.

IOE Secretary-General Roberto Suárez Santos concludes by saying, “Economic development in LDCs through the current multilateral financing system is going too slow and, in too many LDCs, having very little impact. If the international community is serious about moving from potential to prosperity and achieving the SDGs, the private sector must be a partner with governments and multilateral institutions in determining development plans and actions. We have presented a concrete and realistic road map to achieve the SDGs. Let’s start working on implementing it.”