Bhutan on course of graduating from Least Developed Countries status by June 2023: Reports

To graduate the status, countries are expected to follow a smooth transition strategy. Macroeconomic stability, product space diversification, and disaster resilience are some of the parameters recommended for inclusion in Bhutan’s transition strategy, reports ANI.

According to officials, a change in Bhutan’s status will not affect the country’s foreign aid support. The graduation’s impact will mainly be seen in three LDC-specific international support measures (ISM) related to international trade, development cooperation (ODA) and contributions to the funding of the UN system, support for travel to official meetings, scholarships, and research grants.

According to The Bhutan Live, Bhutan currently benefits from LDC-specific preference schemes granted by developed countries under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, which provides for tariff exceptions, and duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) market access such as in EU and Japanese markets.

LDC status is also provided with flexibility for required commitments for World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession.

“While graduation will have negative implications for access to the LDC fund created under the UNFCCC, Bhutan will remain eligible for the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF) trust fund, the special climate fund, and the adaptation fund,” a Bhutanese official said, as quoted by The Bhutan Live, reported ANI.