'Bittersweet story': joy, pain of nations casting off UN poorest tag

But analysts say exports will contract once LDC privileges disappear. When COVID-19 forced a near global lockdown in 2020, it turned "a thriving upper middle income country into a 'no-income country' for three months." But analysts say exports will contract once LDC privileges disappear. But President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih told the summit it has been a "bittersweet story". When COVID-19 forced a near global lockdown in 2020, it turned "a thriving upper middle income country into a 'no-income country' for three months."