UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the world community to ensure that landlocked countries have equal access to global economic opportunities. Guterres said this while speaking at the opening of the third UN Conference, the news portal of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting of Turkmenistan reported.

In his speech, Guterres noted that despite the progress made, landlocked countries still face disproportionately high barriers to sustainable development.

"Geography should not determine destiny," Guterres emphasized.

The UN Secretary-General recalled that 32 landlocked developing countries experience difficulties in accessing world markets, high transport costs and a narrow specialization of the economy, which depends on the export of raw materials. Guterres paid special attention to the issues of sustainable logistics, digital transformation, infrastructure modernization, as well as improving access to healthcare, education and social services.

He stressed that international cooperation should be the basis for developing new strategies aimed at reducing inequality and reducing the vulnerability of these countries to external economic and climate shocks.

The Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries began its work on August 5 in the Avaza national tourist zone on the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea.