The Importance of Multilateral Trade Negotiations for LLDCs and Mongolia in Particular

Mongolia and the other LLDCs suffer from extra border crossings, cumbersome and costly transit procedures, inefficient logistics systems, weak institutions and poor infrastructure. These challenges for the LLDCs are compounded by other difficulties such as dependency on a few markets, one or more transit neighbors, a small population, equally small markets, and dependency on a few commodities, etc. Therefore, this paper promotes the active participation of the LLDCs in the areas of multilateral, regional and bilateral trade negotiations. This paper is based on the latest edition of the International Think Thank for LLDCs' "Multilateral Trade Negotiations and LLDCs: A Handbook for Negotiators and Practitioners", which focuses on multilateral trade negotiations (MTNs). It considers the overlapping agendas in regional trade agreements and the WTO, and the way forward for LLDCs. It also considers the accession process, given that six LLDCs are currently negotiating accession to the WTO. Furthermore, the paper suggests that Mongolia and other LLDCs should consider active engagement and cooperation at the domestic, regional and global levels to enhance their capacity for negotiation in order to benefit from the global market. The author encourages LLDCs to utilize the existing trade agreements of the WTO containing provisions on trade facilitation, freedom of transit, and transparency and simplification of transit trade regulations. The paper also suggests the importance of group formation.