Jean-Francois Arvis

This book is a practical exploration of the three interdependent dimensions of trade connectivity in the Mediterranean: maritime networks, port efficiency, and hinterland connectivity. Understanding how trade connectivity works is important to policy makers concerned with the economic benefits of large investments in infrastructure.

This book aims to help the policymaker and development community in general to understand the nature of the problems and policy dilemmas that landlocked countries face to trade with the rest of the World. This volume presents an important breakthrough in the literature, by focusing on a new conceptual framework that challenges the previous paradigm based on physical infrastructure and state-led access solutions, embodied in many treaties. By recognizing that the main access problems for landlocked countries occur in the territory of the transit country, this volume provides a new approach to understand the set of incentives that drive the political economy and shape the institutions governing goods' transit along corridors. Overall, the policy levers available to overcome these barriers are based on universally applied principles, recognizing the need for re-engineering current transit regimes which have been implemented with little success outside Europe. A risk-approach to border control and technology use, along with trust building between private operators and public agencies, all point toward the need to encourage and formally recognize higher-quality trucking companies. Meanwhile, other modes of transportation represent an alternative to road transit, but they also entail disadvantages, suggesting that their role is likely to remain limited to niche segments, specific commodities and exceptional market circumstances.

'The Cost of Being Landlocked' proposes a new analytical framework to interpret and model the constraints faced by logistics chains on international trade corridors. The plight of landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) has naturally received special attention for decades, leading to a specific set of development priorities based upon the concept of dependence on the transit state. Therefore, the standard approach used to tackle the cost of being landlocked has been predominantly aimed at developing regional transport infrastructure and ensuring freedom of transit through regional conventions. But without sufficient attention given to the performance of logistics service delivery to traders, the standard approach is unable to address key bottleneck concerns and the factors that contribute to the cost of being landlocked. Consequently, the impact of massive investment on trade corridors could not materialize to its full extent. Based on extensive data collection in several regions of the world, this book argues that although landlocked developing countries do face high logistics costs, these costs are not a result of poor road infrastructure, since transport prices largely depend on trucking market structure and implementation of transit processes. This book suggests that high logistics costs in LLDCs are a result of low logistics reliability and predictability, which stem from rent-seeking and governance issues. 'The Cost of Being Landlocked' will serve as a useful guide for policy makers, supervisory authorities, and development agencies.

The Trade and Transport Facilitation Assessment (TTFA) is a tool for identifying inefficiencies in international supply chains that limit a country's ability to compete in international trade. The TTFA examines problems that affect not only exports competitiveness, but also the ability to import and distribute inputs to production and consumer goods. This new TTFA toolkit was developed to meet the growing demand for facilitation and logistics reforms in an environment of increasing global competition and expanded trade in intermediate goods. It reflects practical experience and the change in the nature of demand from developing countries. The TTFA focuses on simplification and harmonization of trade-related procedures and identifies the opportunities for improving logistics services, infrastructure, and the overall performance of specific supply chains. It also outlines practices to develop plans of action with proper interactions with government agencies and stakeholders.