Nepal has written to the United Nations to postpone its upgrade from LDC to developing status until 2029, citing reasons such as declining employment, fear of losing market access, and regional conflicts.
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Nepal has formally written to the United Nations to postpone the deadline for upgrading to Least Developed Country (LDC) status by three years. During a regular press conference on Friday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri Poudel informed that the formal letter has been sent.
Nepal was earlier scheduled to be upgraded to LDC status on November 24, 2026. However, the government has decided to postpone the upgrade due to the recent national and international economic and political situation. According to Spokesperson Poudel, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal formally wrote to the Chairman of the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) on May 13, 2026, to postpone the upgrade to November 2029.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has mentioned that there are five different reasons for Nepal postponing the upgrade, including regional conflicts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that after the upgrade from a least developed country to a developing country, Nepal is at risk of losing the facilities it currently enjoys, including duty-free and quota-free market access, and that employment in the productive sector will decrease by up to 35%.
The upgrade to a developing country will result in the loss of the facilities it currently enjoys in international trade, the risk to the economy due to the ongoing tensions in West Asia, Bangladesh, which is on the upgrade list along with Nepal, has urged the United Nations to postpone the upgrade, and Nepal has also requested to extend the deadline, taking into account the request of the private sector.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah and Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle discussed this issue and agreed to send a letter .
