Vanuatu has been raised to Developing Country status from its current Least Developed Country (LDC) status by the United Nations.

Friday's Daily Post, a Vanuatu's newspaper, reported that the UN Committee on Development Planning has also included the South Pacific Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati as countries (states) eligible for graduation.

At the UN LDC Conference held in West Africa early this month it was decided that Vanuatu was likely to qualify to move from LDC status by 2013 as a result of consistent and positive growth in the economy.

LDCs are defined as the world's poorest nations under UN's standing and call for special treatment, particularly in terms of trade and aid to support their development priorities.

The benefits of being in the LDC group include eligibility for the US Millennium Challenge Account Fund.

Meanwhile, the committee has recommended Papua New Guinea be dropped back to LDC status due to its comparatively poor performances in human, economic and social indices.

Source: Xinhua