Botswana andZambia, countries withrichagricultural resources, suchasParaguay, andcountries thathavefewminerals andwhoselandismainlyaridorsemi-arid, suchasLesotho. Someoftheland-locked countries, notably Chad,MaliandNiger, areverylargeinareawithalowpopulation density, whileothers, suchasBurundi and Rwand~, aresmallinareawithahighpopulation density. Despite their diversity, itispossible toidentify uniformities inthetradeandgrowthpatterns ofland-locked economies thatareintrinsically linkedtotheirgeographical situatio~. Theirlackofproprietary orsovereign accesstotheseabyeitherland orairmeansthattheirtradeisadversely affected bytransport problems, which impose astructural constraint ondevelopment possibilities. 9.The tr~nsport andfreight-rate policies withinthetransit country are formulated andadministered primarily to~~pport anoverall domestic development strategy. Thiscouldleavetheland-Iocks:l neighbour atadisadvantage, sincethe interests ofbothparties maynotnecessarily becongruent. Thetransit country may,forexample, rightfully wishtopromote theuseofparticular modesof transport inordertomeetitsownneeds,butsuchapolicy manynotbeinline withthespecific requirements ofaland-locked neighbouring country. Thereare alsooftenadministrative problenis associated withtransit through foreign countries, sincebecause ofsecurity andotherconsiderations manytransit countries haveinforcespecial customs anddocumentation procedures fortransit cargo. Hinterland regions incoastal countries mayberemote fromportsand expensiv~ toreachbutatleasttheirtransportation problems arenotcompounded by thepolitical andadministrative problems thatariseintransit passage through foreign States. Furthermore, asland-locked countries havenosovereign powerover themovement oftheirmerchandise tradethrough theirneighbouring coastal States, transit traffic maybedisrupted byevents beyondthecontrol ofland-locked States. TheGovernments ofland-locked Statescannotreducethedelays dueto capacity constraints inthecoastal States' transport system. Ont~eotherhand, coastal Statesrightfully exercise theirsovereignty toplantransport infrastructure tomeetprimarily theirownneeds.Itisrelevant tonotethatmost ofthetransit countries aredeveloping countries themselves withlimited resources tobuildupandmaintain efficient transit-transport infrastructure facilities and services. 10.Besides suchproblems related tothelackofsovereign accesstothesea, thereareotherfactors thatputtheland-locked countries atasignificant cost disadvantage. Themovement ofcargoalongthetransit corridors ofteninvolves trans-shipment en-route. Thisgivesrisetosignificant additional freight costs, additional transport timeandadditional transport risksforalloverseas trade. Thephysical remoteness ofthemajorcommercial centres ofland-locked developing countries fromthenearest oceanportsvariesconsiderably (seeappendix table1), butitisover1,000kilometres for11countries: Afghanistan, Botswana, Burundi, I •••A/44/588 English Page9 Central African Republic, Chad,Mali,Niger, Paraguay, RWdnda, Uganda andZambia. Traversing suchdistances caninvolve 40to60days'travel timeandmayadd30to 40percenttoimportcosts. ~/Transit coststhrough aforeign country mustoften bepaidinforeign exchange. 11.Although thetransit tradeandtransport problems ineachland-locked country mayvarydepending onthespecific environment prevailing inindividual countries andregions, UNCTAD workinthisareahasrevealed anvrnberofcommonsalient features, whichcharacterize thecurrent transit-transport constraints inhibiting thesmooth flowofcargoalongthemaintransit corridors: shortage ofexperienced andskilled manpower; pooranddeterio~ating physical infrastructure andequipment; poorcommunications facilities between transit andland-locked developing countries; inadequate bilateral andsUbregional agreements tofacilitate transit-transport; inadequate portfacilities; andcumbersome documentation and customs procedures. Thesebottle-necks areperennial. However, theyhavebeen