overseas countries maydiscount theworldpriceofagivenland-locked developing I .•,A/44/588 English Page19 country's exports becausCl of"unreliabili tyofsupplies". Simill1rly, regional suppliers willtendtoinflate theimportpricesastheytrytoexploit their locational advantage. 40.Acomparison ofthebalance-of-payments accounts ofland-locked developing countries withtheaccounts ofotherdeveloing countries indicates, interalia, thatalargeproportion oftheforeign-exchange earnings ofland-locked developing countries isabsorbed intransport payments. Statistics onpayments toforeign carriers fortransport services arethemostreadily available directevidence of thecosts-that land-lock6d developing countries bearinanygivenyearbecause of theirgeographical situation. Recentstatistics indicat& thatpayments toforeign carriers represent amajordrainontheforeign-exchange earnings ofmany land-locked developing countries. Inasampleof17land-locked developing countries, suchpayments exceed 10percentofthevalueofexports ofgoodsand services in11ofthesecountries andin6theyexceed 25percent. Suchpayments absorbed 63percentofChad'searnings fromtheexpo~ts ofgoodsandservices in 1985,37percentofRwanda's in1985,55percentofMali'sin1985,28percent ofMalawi's in1982,29percentofCentral African Republic's in1985,and 40percentofBurkin~ Faso'sin1983. Formostofthecountries inthesample, payments toforeign carriers fortransport services farexceedtheaverage for otherdeveloping countries (seeappendix table8). 41.Theserecent stati~tics arenotabnormal andthemagnitude oftransport payments withinthecurl~nt-account balance ofland-locked developing countries exposes themtoapeculiar typeofexternal shocktowhichotherdeveloping countries arenotsubject, namely atransport shock. Tranport shocksoccurwhen therearemajordisruptions totransport tradethatincrease normalshipping costs andlengthen thenormaltransit timesandtheroutine delaysaffecting shipments. Intheextreme f~rmofsuchtransport shocks, overland tradeflowstoandfrom land-locked developing countries aretotally curtailed. Allland-locked developing countries haveexperienced transport shocksandtheeffectoftheseshocksontheir economies istoexacerbate thewaysinwhichtransit-transport difficulties actas aconstraint ongrowth. Thislinkage isbriefly analys~d he1ow. C.Geographical situatiQn andgrowth 42.ThecostsandrisksQftransit-transport aggravate thefQreign-exchange cQn~traint byreducing thevQlumeandvalueofexpQrts andinflating thecostsof impQrts. Thislimitsthecapacity toimportnecessary capital gOQdsandproduction inputs. Themedium-term effects offoreign-exchange shortages ongrowthare reinforced bytheeffects ofthelowlevelofexportactivity, lowexportprices andhighimportprices oneffective domestic demand andontheprofitability of production. Allthisleadstolowlevelsofincomeandeconomic activity, whichin turnimposetwofurther resource constraints onland-locked economiesl limited domestic savings andaweakcapacity tofinance pUblicexpenditure fromdomestic sources. Thesecombined factors caneasilysnowball intoaneconomic crisis similar toonethatmanyAfrican land-locked countries haveexperienced inrecent years. I .••A/44/588 English Page20 43.Atthebeginning ofthefirsttwoUnitedNations Development Decaa8s, the land-locked developing countries were,ingeneral, characterized byetreme conditions ofunderdevelopment. Thisreflected ahistory inwhichcoutinental interiors wereincorporated later,morepartially andmoreindirectly intothe worldeconomy. Inmanycases,theremoteness ofcontinental interiors setupa self-perpetuating cycleofneglect. Investment intransport infrastructure wasnot undertaken asresources werenotperceived tobeeconomically valuable, and resources werenoteconomically valuable because thetransport costsofgetting themtotheportsweretoogreat. Thereweresome nota~le exceptions. zimbabwe andthetraditional mineral producers. Bolivia andZambia, wererelatively wealthy intermsofaggregate gross dom~stic product. Butintheotherland-locked
**Analysis**
The text discusses the challenges faced by land-locked developing countries in terms of their geographical situation, which affects their trade and economy. It highlights the high costs of transportation, the unreliability of supplies, and the impact on their foreign exchange earnings. The text also mentions the historical context of underdevelopment in these countries and how it has perpetuated a cycle of neglect. Given this focus on economic development, trade, and the impact of geography on a country's economy, I believe that the text is most closely related to the fields of economic development, international trade, and transport and communication.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade, Transport and communication