The importance of transport for globalized trade and development

1
Trade and transport facilitation Developments
including UNCTAD XI
Trade Logistics Branch / SITE
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
2
UNCTAD XI A Milestone

• Sao Paulo Consensus Bangkok new developments
• Recognition of the importance of TTF in
  development process
• Calls for appropriate policies
• Recognizes UNCTADs prominent role in the UN
  system
• Provides orientation to UNCTADs WP
• Endorsement of GFP

3
Transport and sustainable development

• Transport determines development potential.
• High share of freight cost in import value
• Dev. countries around 8.7 per cent in 2002
• Developed countries 5.1 per cent
• Some landlocked LDCs up to and above 30
• Multimodal transport to reduce transaction cost.

4
Cost of importing goods into US
5
Examples of transport/logistics cost
Product-basedExport of beansfrom Ethiopia to
Europe (Indices)
Corridor-based Northern Corridor Kenya-Rwanda
(Imports)

• Sea Europe Mombasa approx US 1800/TEU
• Road Mombasa Kigali approx US 5000/TEU
  (15t)

6
Transport and globalization

• Globalization requires functioning transport
  systems
• so does regional integration.
• The vast majority of international tradeincludes
  carriage by sea.
• South/South linkages often insufficient
  limiting alternative trading patterns.

7
New developments in transport

• Multimodal transport
• integration of transport
• MT is an intermediate concept increasingly
  supplemented by value added services

8
New developments in transport

• Logistics
• Shippers looking not only at transport costbut
  at all cost of marketing and distribution
• optimization of total cost rather than of
  components
• more expensive transport solutions could be the
  optimum ones
• high growth rates
• shipping/transport companies moving into
  logistics.
• E-commerce/IT applications
• Internet-based developments
• legal constraints.

9
Transport in developing countries

• Global transport developments are based on
  East/West rather than North/South trade
• organizational changes meet needs of large
  shippers.
• Suppliers from developing countries
• Is there a place for local transport providers?
• Ports link global and national systems
• no longer terminal point but integral part of
  chains
• logical place for logistics centers providing
  value added services.

10
Developing countriessupply capacities

• Ocean transport/logistics
• generally declining capacities
• mainline versus feeder operations.
• Auxiliary services/logistics
• agencies, terminal operations, etc.
• Opportunities to extend into logistics.

11
Security issues

• Developing countries need to cope with security
  measures adopted at national and international
  levels
• National initiatives
• International initiatives
• Implications and facilitation of compliance,
• Other orgs developing rules and standards

12
Legal/regulatory framework

• Lack of globally accepted MT legal framework
• 1980 Convention not in force
• various endeavors to fill the gap - UNCITRAL
  draft instrument on transport
• Proliferation of national and regional rules and
  contractual solutions
• Recognition of the need but not desirable end
  result.
• UNCTAD/ICC rules
• Standard term contracts.

13
Trade and transport facilitation measures

• Application of MT concepts requires appropriate
  administrative arrangements and procedures
• Customs reform
• ASYCUDA
• Transit agreements
• Almaty Plan of Action
• Etc.

14
Transport policies

• Policy reform programmes.
• Supply side/fleet development policies
• market access policies (WTO)
• strengthening commercial capabilities
• creating level playing field
• transfer of know-how.
• Demand side/consumer policies
• improving sector efficiency.
• Infrastructure development policies.

15
What support is needed?

• Policies are formulated at national level
• but they call for international action to
  support
• Long-term infrastructure development
• UNCTAD called to provide soft measures to
  optimize use of existing infrastructure and
  resources, including
• institutional capacity building legal reform
• sustainable technology applications
  throughknow-how transfer
• HRD and training.