Vietnam as a developing economy performs trade logistics better than its income level would suggest, according to a World Bank survey.

The survey found that Vietnam, along with China, India, Thailand, Uganda, the Philippines and South Africa were among the “most significant performers” among developing economies.

The country is ranked 53rd out of 155 economies in the Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI).

“Among developing economies logistics performance transcends the level of per capita income,” said the WB report titled “Connecting to Compete 2010: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy.”

Brazil, China, Bangladesh and Uganda improved their rankings while Germany emerged as the top performer, according to the study based on a broad survey of international freight forwarders and express carriers.

“Following our first survey in 2007, many developing countries have improved their capacity to connect to international markets, which is a key ingredient for competitiveness and economic growth,” said Otaviano Canuto, WB Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management.

“But if developing countries want to come out of the crisis in a stronger and more competitive position, they need to invest in better trade logistics.”

WB president Robert B. Zoellick, who visited Berlin last week to discuss global development and economic issues, said “Economic competitiveness is relentlessly driving countries to strengthen performance, and improving trade logistics is a smart way to deliver more efficiencies, lower costs and added economic growth.

“Streamlining the connections among markets, manufacturers, farmers and consumers offers tremendous growth and investment opportunities and should be a top focus for developing country growth strategies.”

Bernard Hoekman, director of WB’s Trade Department, said the research found increasing logistics performance in low income countries to the middle-income average level could boost trade by around 15 percent.

This would “benefit all firms and consumers through lower prices and better quality services,” he was cited in the report as saying.

According to the second edition of WB logistics survey, high income economies dominate the top logistics rankings while almost all the ten lowest performing countries are from low income groups.

Although the study showed a “logistics gap” between rich countries and most developing countries, it found positive trends such as modernization of customs, the use of information technology, and development of private logistics services.

Colombia, Brazil, and Tunisia, which made significant improvement between the two surveys, are also those that carried out reforms in the field earlier, the report said.

The study pointed out that logistics performance is heavily affected by the quality of public sector institutions, especially customs, and the coordination of border management agencies in border clearance.

Source: Thanh Nien