countries, physical social andeconomic infrastructure waspoor,manufacturing activities werelargely absent,littleurbanization hadtakenplace, andthe development ofanindigenous middleclasswasweak.Bolivia, Z~nbia andZimbabwe werebetteroffbecause theyhadreceived muchcapital investme~t duringthe colonial period, butthiswasdesigned tosupport miningactivities and,in,the caseofZimbabwe, European settlement. Inspiteoftheirrelative wealth, eachof thesethreeeconomies wascharacterized bysharpdualism. 44.Land-locked developing countries thusbeganplanning thedevelopment oftheir economies ataninitial disadvantage, butavailable evidence suggests thattoday mostofthemremainpoor.InAsiaandsub-Saharan Africa(withtheexception of southern Africa) thedevelopment gapbetween land-locked States andneighbouri~g coastal Statesiswidening (seeappendix table9).Exports percapitaaregrowing moreslowlyintheland-locked Statesthaninthecoastal States, theproportion of thelabourforceengaged innon-agricultural activities isrisingmoreslowly, or intheAfrican case,actually falling, andthegapininfantmortality ratesis widening. InLatinAmerica, differentials ingrossdomestic product percapita between l~nd-locked States andneighbouring coastal Statesarenarrowing. Interms ofinfantmortality, however, secondary schoolenrolment, thedevelopment of non-agricultural employment opportunities andexports percapita, theland-locked Statesstilllegbehind. Itisonlyinsouthern Africathatthereissome inversion ofthispattern, buthereeconomic growth anddevelopment isbeing stifled bytheinstabilities thathavealready beenindicated. Today, 15outof the21land-locked countries inLatinAmerica, AsiaandAfricaareclassified as leastdeveloped countries. OnlyBolivia, Mongolia, Paraguay, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe arenotBmvngtheeconomically weakest ofthedeveloping countries. 45.Furthermore, therecentemergence ofregional manufacturing exporters represents amajorchangeintheinternational circumstances oftheland-locked developing countries. Thegeographical situation ofland-lock~d developing countries isbecoming oneinwhichtheyarenotonlyremote fromtherichest and mostindustrialized countries intheworld,theyarealsoclosetoneighbouring developing countries thatarebigger andrelatively richerandmoreindustrialized thanthemselves. Withtheadditional costsandrisksoftransit-transport the land-locked countries arefurther placedatacompetitive disadvantage viS-A-vis otherdeveloping countries intheirattempts toexpand anddiversify primary commodity exports. Infuture, thisdisadvantage willremainaslongasland-locked developing countries relyonoverseas markets. Inaddition, however, the land-locked countries willfindthatproduction forthedomestic market, I •••A/••/588 Bnglllh Page21 particularly inmanufacturing, mUltcomp.t. withr.gional luppli.r. whoartabl., b.cause ofthegr.at.r population andgreat.r incomeoftheirdom.stic mark.ts and theirh.adstartin.xporting, toachi.v••conomi.s ofseal.. Ther.isadang.r, therefore, thatinfutureitwillnotonlybedifficult forproducers in land-locked countri.s tocompete in.xportmark.ts,itwillalsobedifficult for th.mtocomp.t. withinth.irownmark.ts. V.SPBCIFIC ACTION BYTHEINTBRNATIONAL COMMUNITY INFAVOUR OFLAND-LOCKBD DEVELOPING COUNTRIBS A.Summariea ofrtpli.sr.c.iv.d fromindiyidual countries Australia .6.WhileAustralia doe&notprovidesp.cial assistance forland-locked developing countries, veryfewofwhichareintheAsia-Pacific regionwheretheAustralian aidprogramme ilconcentrated, Australia doelrecogniae theparticular probl.ma of thelecountries andprovides someappropriate asaistance. InAsia,Australia is currently fundingbilateral programm'l inBhutan, theLaoPeople's Democratic Republic andNepal. InAfrica, sixofthenineben.ficiaries ofthe,A100million Special Programme toAfricaoverthreeyearsareland-locked countries. The countries conc.rn.d areBotawana, Lelotho, Malawi, Swaailand, ZambiaandZimbabwe. A.sistance tothe.'countri.s i.provid.d intheformoftraining aid,Itaffing assistance, co-financing withthedevelopment banks,andinstitutional an(tr8qional support. Forthep.riod 1988-1989 official development assistanc••armarked for