Friday, April 29, 2011

Global Enabling Trade Report 2010

World Economic Forum



Singapore and Hong Kong SAR continue to occupy the top two positions followed by Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland in the The Global Enabling Trade Report 2010, released today by the World Economic Forum. New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Luxembourg and the Netherlands complete the top-10 list. Among the large economies, Germany is the best performer at 13th, ahead of the United States, which drops by three places to 19th. China (48th) and Brazil (87th) remain stable, while Turkey (62nd), India (84th) and Russia (114th) drop in the ranking.

The results mirror the resilience against the threat of protectionism during the economic crisis. International agreements such the WTO framework and pledges by the G20 have contributed to limiting the effect of protectionist pressures on trade barriers. Despite fears of rising protectionism, the report confirms that a large majority of countries did not raise trade barriers. Launched at a time when trade volumes recover from the deepest post-war slump, the report, by identifying the obstacles to and enablers of trade across countries, can contribute to strengthening the recovery. As countries enable trade, they also provide benefits to their trade partners, thereby supporting economic growth.

Published for the third year in a row and covering 125 economies worldwide, the report presents a resource for dialogue and provides a yardstick of the extent to which economies have in place the necessary attributes for enabling trade and where improvements are most needed.

The Enabling Trade Index was developed within the context of the Forum’s Industry Partnership Programme for the Logistics and Transport sector, in close collaboration with the project’s data partners.

Acceder al reporte 2010

Acceder al reporte 2009

Environmental impacts of international shipping: The role of ports

Edited by Nils Axel Braathen
OECD
February 2011


While efficient ports are vital to the economic development of their surrounding areas, the related ship traffic, the handling of the goods in the ports and the hinterland distribution can cause a number of negative environmental impacts.

This book examines the environmental impacts of international maritime transport, and looks more in detail at the impacts stemming from near-port shipping activities, the handling of the goods in the ports and from the distribution of the goods to the surrounding regions. It focuses on five ports: Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, the United States; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Port Metro Vancouver, Canada; and Busan, Korea.

The book provides examples of the environmental problems related to port activities (such as air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases, water pollution, noise, spread of invasive species, etc.) and highlights a number of different policy instruments that can be used to limit the negative impacts. It is a valuable resource for policy makers and researchers alike.

Bajar documento

Connecting landlocked developing countries to markets: Trade corridors in the 21st century

Arvis, Jean-Francois; Smith, Graham; Carruthers, Robin
World Bank
April 2011


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.

Bajar PDF (11 MB)