The potential of Aid for Trade to improve the infrastructure and logistics performance of landlocked developing countries of Latin America

America is one of the priority areas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC) of the United Nations and, in particular, of ECLAC Natural Resources and
Infrastructure Division (NRID).
Prepared as a contribution to the United Nations Development Account Project: “Facilitating the
Effective Integration of Developing Countries in the Global Economy through Aid for Trade
Schemes”, ROA 139-7, the present document presents the main activities, carried out by NRID for the
benefit of the landlocked developing countries since the adoption of the Almaty Programme of Action: addressing the special needs of the Landlocked Developing Countries. It is intended to serve
as an inventory of the Division’s studies and projects in the area, highlighting the main conclusions
and policy recommendations resulting from these activities.
In line with this objective, the document presents the results of the NRID work in the following three areas:
• Linking Landlockedness and development (Chapter II)
• Status of landlocked countries in Latin America (Chapter III)
• Logistics in landlocked countries (Chapter IV)
• Landlocked developing countries and the Aid for Trade initiative (Chapter V)
The concluding Chapter deals with the Aid for Trade initiative and identifies the activities in the area
of infrastructure and logistics where Aid for Trade would be beneficial for landlocked countries in
Latin America.