Economics: Least Developed Countries - Coursework Example

Least Developed Countries Introduction: The definition of “least developed countries” has been provided by the United Nations Organization. (UNO). According to the UNO, the countries classified ‘as having extremely low human development and economic development’ could be said to be least developed countries. (Finding Solutions to Poverty, 2007). It could be further said that LDC could also be understood as a term which “refers to the 48 countries and territories which are recognized by the United Nations General Assembly as being among the least developed countries and which are accorded special priority for the purpose of granting assistance.” (International Communication Union, 2001). The fact that the plight of long suffering least developing countries of the world, especially of Latin America and the dark continent, Africa, needs to be ameliorated and the quality of their lives improved, has been on the agenda of the UNO since the 1970s, which has led to the identification of certain countries to be separately treated and focused upon as LDCs. The reason for the isolation of the LDCs, was to include their vexing problems at international forums, in order to find ways and means to address the issues and seek international assistance and succour, for not only reducing their debt burden, but also providing necessary debt relief. Accumulation of debts and inability to service it, has been one of the key barriers that stood in the way of their growth and development. The basic problems lies in the fact that the funds made available to them were not even adequate to service debt burdens, resulting in the cascading effects of generating more debts to pay off debts, in an ever-increasing debt trap that confronts the LDC. This debt trap has been the culmination of financial inadequacy which manifested itself by generating more and more external debts, most of which remained unserviceable for long period of time because of resource constraints and other infrastructural difficulties. The primary causes for the present condition of LDC could be in terms of: They do not have a proper mechanism to penetrate world markets with their produce and/or compete for goods, products and services. They have not been able to devise an adequate indirect or direct taxation system by which the problems of tariff revenues could be suitably countered. The predominant source of income for LDC stem from agricultural produce. Their high dependency on agricultural produce has left them vulnerable to several risk factors, like climatic variations, which could adversely affect crop productions, slower and outdated production methods and lack of scientific agricultural production methods. There is also higher lead time for conversion of agricultural produce to national wealth. In addition to this, the agricultural sector, unlike industrial trade and commerce, has high trade barriers and a lot of influences could affect this sector. Another factor that co-exists in LDC is that they are geographically scattered and less prone for a standardized protection policy and reduction of trade barriers from the other developed and developing countries. Considering their trade interests, many developing countries have reduced the volume of trade with the LDC. This could signal a worsening of their ever fragile economy and could spell even more ominous for their growth and development, considering the fact that “For historical reasons, most developing countries are still quite dependent on developed country markets. Since they enjoy broad preferential treatment in the developed countries, especially in the EU, the removal of trade barriers on the most-favoured nation basis is against their short-term interests.” (Trade Policies and developing countries. 2007). Three worlds based on most recent available data from the Human Development Index  High human development  Medium human development  Low human development (LDC) World wide depiction of development countries Source: Developing Country: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the year 1997, called by the World Trade Organization culminated in the setting up of the Integrated Framework (IF) for Trade-related Technical Assistance to least developed countries. This integrated framework has been encouraged by the International Monetary Fund, International Trade Centre, UNCTAD, United Nations Development Projects, the World Bank and WTO, among others. The principle objectives of this integrated framework are two fold. First, to deliver trade connected technical assistance to the LDCs in the wake of the determined requirements of these countries, and secondly, to route the trade towards national development programmes, and, in cited cases, the mitigation of poverty, through strategic interventional action plans implemented by the receiving countries. Thus the LDCs are ensured of the best possible utilization of multilateral trading frameworks. (Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to LDCs. 2002). The preferential market access treatment and also the special and differential treatment meted to the LDCs have formed the bedrock of the Brussels Programme of Action. However, despite the concerted efforts of UNCTAD, through the adoption of Generalized System of Trade Preferences (GSTP) the LDCs have not been able to fully utilize the preferential trade treatment given to them due to inherent supply side deficiencies and lacunae’s, deficiency in the trade-related facilities and servicing and Non Trade Barriers. The main difficulties faced by LDCs are in the areas of origin of products and product standardisation. Many of the LDCs, including, inter alia, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritius, Uganda, Zambia, etc., have benefited from trade facilities like ASCD (Automatic System for Customs Data) and ACIS (Advanced Cargo Information Service) (Brussels Programme of Action. 2007). UNCTAD, on its part, has been providing maximum co-operation and service to LDCs in the areas of providing wide ranging training and capability reinforcement and also in providing Trade Negotiating and business diplomacy training while dealing with high level trade talks. It is also helping in the development of trade cartels or combinations for trade development on the basis of common interests of the member countries of LDCs. For the efficient and effective growth and development of marketing concept, Economics plays a crucial role. There should be a proper relation between the economics and marketing, both are inter related. Both macro and micro economics are very essential for the better development of marketing also. Economics is a wider concept, which is highly dealing with manufacturing and proper distribution of appropriate goods and services. It is important that to provide a keen consideration for the marketing growth and development. Marketing strategy and policies may help the entity for implementing its functional areas in a better manner. For the better functioning of an organization, it is very effective that development of sufficient marketing tools and strategies are significant. Marketing is wider concept which contains a set of marketing policies and procedures, which is very helpful for the attainment of predetermined goals of an entity. Certain marketing concepts like SWOT analysis, marketing mix etc are effective in nature for the overall development. But there should be a slight variation in the applicability of these marketing tools and techniques, from one entity to other. Apart from this, in marketing, customer is the key person who determines the success of an organization. In this context, it is important to give stress for certain concepts like the environment in which the business is surviving, and the situation or condition in which it is running. So, it is very clear from the fact that it is necessary to analyze or evaluate the important concepts of marketing strategies effectively for the overall economic development. Moreover, modern markets highly rely on the customer trends and attitudes. It is important to make a positive approach towards the difficulties faced by the industry, and also necessary to compete with the rival firms in a healthy manner. Target marketing is one of the strategic decisions of an organization. Marketing is wide world, which has to take into consideration several concepts, especially of its target segmentation, and other strategy for implementation. Moreover, the success or failure of a business depends on the environment in which it prevails. Both macro and micro environmental factors have a strong influence in the proper running of a business. But among these, macro environmental factors are very crucial, as far as marketers are concerned. The important macro economic factors influencing marketers are: economic factors, political factors, demographic factors, cultural factors, natural factors and technological factors. So, it is evident that marketing is a vast subject, and changes are taking place here in a tremendous manner. Therefore, for moving forward and to retain the position in the market, it is important to make an overview about the marketing functions and policies in a systematic manner. For this, a proper plan about the aspects of how marketing of a product should be undertaken is important. In order to carryout an analysis of the market, it is very crucial to identify about the overall size, profitability, and the working environment. Then it becomes possible to analyse market potentiality and financial feasibility. For the attainment of business growth, it is essential to make implementation of adequate tools of marketing. “Strategy is all about the big picture. About thinking about where should be - not tomorrow or the next day - but in 2 years, 3 years and beyond. Most marketing strategy concerns itself with the short term and with techniques and tactics. There is little joined up thinking and very little consideration for the future. Marketing strategies define the shape of the business. Marketing without a strategy is likely to be a costly, short term exercise.” (Marketing Strategies. 2007). Works cited Brussels Programme of Action. (2007). BpoA. Market Access. Last accessed 23 October 2007 at: http://www.uneca.org/ldcs/synthesis_report.pdf Finding solutions to poverty. (2007). a dollar a day. [online]. Library.hinkquest. Last accessed 23 October 2007 at: http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00282/other_glossary.htm Glossary of terms. (2001). [online]. International communication union. Last accessed 23 October 2007 at: http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/intset/whatare/glossary.html Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to LDCs. (2002). [online]. UNCTAD. Last accessed 23 October 2007 at: http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=3644&lang=1 Marketing Strategies. (2007). Marketing Small Businesses. Last accessed 23 October 2007 at: http://jkl-small-business-marketing solutions.com/Marketing_Strategy_Articles.html Trade Policies and developing countries. (2007). [online]. Formin, Finland. Last accessed 23 October 2007 at: http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?nodeid=15269&contentlan=2&culture=en-US   Read More