277. The representative of Zambia, speaking on behalf of the LDC Group , thanked the Chair for his leadership in the course of the informal consultations that had led to the preparation of a draft decision and expressed her gratitude to the delegations that had participated in the consultations for their positive and useful engagement. In commenting on the draft decision, she said that the LDCs had exercised a great deal of flexibility. While having requested a 15 year transition period, the LDCs would have preferred to receive a period of at least ten years, as such a period would have allowed them to identify the priority needs mentioned in paragraph 2 of the draft decision, and also take full advantage of the technical assistance envisaged in its paragraph 3. Although it was unfortunate that they had not attained what they had initially sought, the group considered seven and a half years worthwhile as a basis for the transition. While the LDC Group5 understood the reasoning behind the standstill clause in paragraph 5 of the draft decision, it was nonetheless concerned about the fact that this limited the scope of policy space that LDCs could exercise during the transition period.
