José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, underlines EC commitment to helping world's least developed countries (LCD) out of poverty. Mr. Barroso made this statement in the light of the forthcoming “The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV)” that will take place 9-13 May, 2011 in Istanbul,Turkey.

The fourth LDC Conference will provide a key opportunity for donors to come together and provide renewed momentum to LDC support. In November 2008, the EU undertook to provide 0.15-0.20% of its Gross National Product (GNP) to the LDCs. It has already made significant progress on this target - currently 0.13% of EU Gross National Income (GNI) goes as aid to LDCs. As the largest donor to the LDCs, with €15 billion of aid in 2010, the EU will urge other partners to match its pledge to provide 0.15-0.20% of its GNI to LDCs. Moreover, emerging economies like Brazil, China and India should also provide their fair share of assistance to the LDCs.

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are the poorest and weakest countries in the world, held back by weak economies and weak capacity for growth. LDCs are assessed on three criteria: per capita GDP, economic diversity and quality of life. On average, 50% of the people living in LDCs still live on less than $1.25 a day.

In addition, the conference will look at how other countries can follow in the footsteps of Cape Verde, the Maldives and Botswana and achieve graduation status (where they meet two of the three LDC criteria or when their GNI per capita exceeds at least twice the threshold level). The EU will call for more systematic support for countries during and after the graduation process because there are only three countries having graduated so far.

The Commission will also use the conference to call for action to help those countries better adapt to it and be more able to cope with future shocks. Many LDCs will be among the countries hit the earliest and the hardest by climate change, either due to their location or their inability to cope with its effects.