The General Assembly,
 
     Recalling the provisions of its resolutions 44/214 of 22 December 1989,
46/212 of 20 December 1991 and 48/169 of 21 December 1993,
 
     Recognizing that the lack of territorial access to the sea, aggravated by
remoteness and isolation from world markets, and prohibitive transit costs and
risks impose serious constraints on the overall socio-economic development
efforts of the land-locked developing countries,
 
     Recognizing also that sixteen of the land-locked developing countries are
also classified by the United Nations as least developed countries and that
their geographical situation is an added constraint on their overall ability
to cope with the challenges of development,
 
     Recognizing further that most transit countries are themselves developing
countries facing serious economic problems, including the lack of adequate
infrastructure in the transport sector,
 
     Recalling that measures to deal with the transit problems of land-locked
developing countries require closer and even more effective cooperation and
collaboration between those countries and their transit neighbours,
 
     Welcoming the entry into force on 16 November 1994 of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea,
 
     Recognizing the important role played by bilateral cooperative
arrangements and regional and subregional cooperation and integration in
alleviating the transit problems of the land-locked developing countries and
improving the transit transport systems in land-locked and transit developing
countries,
 
     Recognizing also the importance of continuing the activities of the
regional commissions to improve the transit transport infrastructure in the
land-locked and transit developing countries,
 
     Noting the importance of strengthening the existing international support
measures with a view to addressing further the problems of land-locked
developing countries,
 
     1.   Reaffirms the right of access of land-locked developing countries to
and from the sea and freedom of transit through the territory of transit
States by all means of transport, in accordance with international law;
 
     2.   Also reaffirms that transit developing countries, in the exercise of
their full sovereignty over their territory, have the right to take all
measures necessary to ensure that the rights and facilities provided for
land-locked developing countries should in no way infringe upon their
legitimate interests;
 
     3.   Calls upon both the land-locked developing countries and their
transit neighbours, in the spirit of South-South cooperation, including
bilateral cooperation, to implement measures to strengthen further their
cooperative and collaborative efforts in dealing with their transit problems;
 
     4.   Appeals once again to all States, international organizations and
financial institutions to implement, as a matter of urgency and priority, the
specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of land-locked
developing countries envisaged in the previous resolutions adopted by the
General Assembly and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
and in the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations
Development Decade and the Declaration on International Economic Cooperation,
in particular the Revitalization of Economic Growth and Development of the
Developing Countries, adopted at the eighteenth special session of the General
Assembly and contained in the annex to its resolution S-18/3 of 1 May 1990, as
well as the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Least
Developed Countries for the 1990s and the outcomes of recent major United
Nations conferences relevant to land-locked developing countries;
 
     5.   Invites the land-locked developing countries and their transit
neighbours to intensify further their cooperative arrangements for the
development of transit infrastructures, institutions and services to
facilitate the faster movement of goods in transit, with financial and
technical assistance from donors and financial institutions;
 
     6.   Emphasizes that assistance for the improvement of transit transport
facilities and services should be integrated into the overall economic
development strategies of the land-locked and transit developing countries and
that donor assistance should consequently take into account the requirements
for the long- term restructuring of the economies of the land-locked
developing countries;
 
     7.   Invites donor countries and multilateral financial and development
institutions to provide land-locked and transit developing countries with
appropriate financial and technical assistance in the form of grants or
concessional loans for the construction, maintenance and improvement of their
transport, storage and other transit-related facilities, including alternative
routes and improved communications;
 
     8.   Invites the United Nations Development Programme further to promote,
as appropriate, subregional, regional and interregional projects and
programmes and to expand its support in the transport and communications
sectors to the land-locked and transit developing countries and its technical
cooperation for development geared towards promoting national and collective
self-reliance among them;
 
     9.   Takes note of the report of the Second Meeting of Governmental
Experts from Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and Representatives
of Donor Countries and Financial and Development Institutions, held in New
York from 19 to 22 June 1995, and endorses the Global Framework for Transit
Transport Cooperation between Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and
the Donor Community contained therein;
 
     10.  Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development, in collaboration with the donor countries and
institutions, in particular the United Nations Development Programme, the
regional commissions and relevant subregional institutions, to organize,
within existing resources, specific consultative groups, when requested by the
land- locked and transit developing countries concerned, to identify priority
areas for action at the national and subregional level and draw up action
programmes for the period 1996-1997;
 
     11.  Requests the Secretary-General to convene in 1997, within the
overall level of resources for the biennium 1996-1997, another meeting of
governmental experts from land-locked and transit developing countries and
representatives of donor countries and financial and development institutions,
including relevant regional and subregional economic organizations and
commissions, to review progress in the development of transit systems in the
land-locked and transit developing countries, taking into account, inter alia,
the results of the consultative group meetings referred to in paragraph 10 of
the present resolution, with a view to exploring the possibility of
formulating specific action-oriented measures and the ongoing study undertaken
by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on the implications
of the globalization and liberalization of the world economy for the
development prospects of land-locked developing countries;
 
     12.  Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development to seek voluntary contributions to ensure participation
of representatives from land-locked and transit developing countries in the
meeting of governmental experts from land-locked and transit developing
countries and representatives of donor countries and financial and development
institutions referred to in paragraph 11 of the present resolution;
 
     13.  Notes with appreciation the contribution of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development in formulating international measures to
deal with the special problems of the land-locked developing countries, and
urges the Conference, inter alia, to keep under constant review the evolution
of transit transport infrastructure facilities, institutions and services,
monitor the implementation of agreed measures, collaborate in all relevant
initiatives, including those of the private sector and non-governmental
organizations, and serve as a focal point on cross-regional issues of interest
to land-locked developing countries;
 
     14.  Invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in consultation
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development, to take appropriate measures for the effective implementation of
the activities called for in the present resolution and of existing measures
in support of land-locked developing countries, within the context of the
ninth session of the Conference;
 
     15.  Welcomes the note by the Secretary-General and the progress report
of the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
on specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of
land-locked developing countries, and requests the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, together with the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development, to prepare a report on the implementation
of the present resolution and submit it to the Trade and Development Board and
to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session.