Aid sought for least developed countries

To get 46 least-developed countries back on track to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals in the next decade, genuine support must be free from political concessions, and have better mechanisms for tracking where funds are spent, experts say.

Moamen Gouda, associate professor of Middle East Economics at the Graduate School of International and Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in the Republic of Korea, urged for a more transparent mechanism to counter corruption and the strengthening of institutions' rule of law and said one of the main concerns, from economic research, "happens to be about sovereignty" and warned of "economic colonization".

Gouda told China Daily that for developing countries, how and where help should work is a big question, as there have been historical problems such as conflicts, wars and poverties, which cannot be solved with simple debt relief solutions, adding that some countries are creating a "black hole" for aid.