NIEO or the New International Economic Order was an idea that originated with the realisation that economic development was vital for the independence of the new countries which more often than not was marked as Least Developed Countries or LDCs.

A report in 1972 entitled Towards a New Trade Policy for Development brought out by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) outlined a reform of the global trading system so as to:

(i) give the LDCs control over their natural resources exploited by the developed Western countries,

(ii) obtain access to Western markets so that the LDCs could sell their products and, therefore, make trade more beneficial for the poorer countries,

(iii) reduce the cost of technology from the Western countries, and

(iv) provide the LDCs with a greater role in international economic institutions.

The economic concerns were not the important objectives for the Non-aligned Movement during its first summit at Belgrade in 1961. But with the conception of NIEO, economic concerns became the most important issue that the Movement dealt with by the mid-1970s. the decolonised nations had realised that a sustainable economic development model was essential for their continuing benefit and this caused the Movement to become an economic pressure group. The NIEO faced stiff opposition from the developed countries who presented an united front against the concerns and economic requirements of the non-aligned countries. This caused the NIEO initiative to fade by the late 1980s as the non-aligned countries were unable to maintain their unity when faced with the intense opposition.