A/RES/74/232 Follow-up to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries understanding of the fundamental mechanisms leading the least developed countries to overcome their structural handicaps and reach their development goals; 7. Recognizes that significant additional domestic public and private resources, including at the subnational level, supplemented by international assistance and foreign direct investment, as appropriate, will be critical for the realization of sustainable development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda acknowledge the centrality of domestic resource mobilization, underscored by the principle of national ownership; 8. Also recognizes that, while the least developed countries have made considerable efforts to mobilize domestic resources and attract private investment, further progress is needed; 9. Expresses its concern that, while the least developed countries are in need of increased global support, bilateral official development assistance to those countries declined by 3 per cent in real terms in 2018 compared with 2017 after increasing by 4 per cent in 2017 compared with 2016, and, expressing its appreciation to those countries that have met or surpassed their commitments to providing at least 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to developing countries and the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to the least developed countries, urges all others to step up efforts to increase their official development assistance and to make additional concrete efforts towards the official development assistance targets, reiterates that the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments remains crucial, calls upon developed countries to fulfil their respective official development assistance commitments to the least developed countries, and encourages official development assistance providers to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.2 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to the least developed countries, while reiterating that an important use of international public finance, including official development assistance, is to catalyse additional resource mobilization from other sources, public and private; 10. Is encouraged by those countries that are allocating at least 50 per cent of their official development assistance to the least developed countries; 11. Welcomes continued efforts to improve the quality, impact and effectiveness of development cooperation and other international efforts in public finance, including adherence to agreed development cooperation effectiveness principles; 12. Calls upon the developing countries, guided by the spirit of solidarity and consistent with their capabilities, to provide support for the effective implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action in mutually agreed areas of cooperation within the framework of South-South cooperation, which is a complement to but not a substitute for North-South cooperation; 13. Notes that exports of goods and services of the least developed countries increased by 12 per cent in 2018 compared with 2017, expresses its concern that the share of goods and services exports, which stood at 0.94 per cent in 2018, remains far from the target of 2 per cent of global exports called for in the Istanbul Programme of Action and target 17.11 of the Sustainable Development Goals, also expresses its concern that the overall trade deficit of the least developed countries continues to increase and has doubled since 2011, and calls upon the least developed countries and their development partners to take the measures necessary to further accelerate progress, with a view to achieving the targets of the Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; 4/11 19-22505