|
|
Transport & Trade
Logistics | 
|
|
WHAT´S NEW
By focusing on private
sector’s perspectives regarding obstacles to
international trade, on the first day, the Forum
would seek to identify concrete measures which
would be needed to tackle identified obstacles
and consider how WTO agreement can contribute to
this endeavour.
On Day Two, the Forum will outline how the
private sector actors, governments and
development agencies can jointly support the
trade facilitation reforms that will arise from
the future commitments under the WTO.
Participants will identify how the private
sector can contribute to the implementation of
the required measures.
More >>
UNCTAD in collaboration with UNECE launched the
on-line repository on national and regional
Trade Facilitation Working Groups. The
repository offers case studies from countries
that have set up an operation national and/or
regional coordinating mechanism on trade
facilitation.
The repository will be expanded over time.
Countries are invited to share their experiences.
Please contact
Jan.Hoffmann@unctad.org or
Birgit.Viohl@unctad.org
More >>
UNCTAD’s 2009 issue of the annual Review of
Maritime Transport (RMT) is available online.
Including unique data such as seaborne trade
statistics, the world fleet by vessel types and
port traffic, this year’s issue analyses in
detail the contrasting trends of reduced trade
and thus demand for maritime transport services
against the still-growing world fleet. The RMT
2009 regional chapter looks at international
transport developments in Africa.
UNCTAD hosted and organized two topical expert
meetings in early December. The Multi-year
Expert Meeting on Transport and Trade
Facilitation focused on Public and Private
Partnerships for the Development of
Infrastructure to Facilitate Trade and
Transport, and the Ad Hoc Expert Meeting looked
at Transit Ports Servicing Landlocked Developing
Countries. Both meetings were well attended and
led to insightful and interesting discussions;
presentations are available online.
Topical articles in this issue of the Transport
Newsletter cover an International Federation of
Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) “train
the trainer” course, designing and implementing
trade facilitation in Asia and the Pacific, the
Third Meeting of Trade Ministers of Landlocked
Developing Countries and an update on UNCTAD’s
Port Training Programme (PTP). Further, we
provide summary updates on selected documents
and events dealing with trade and transport
facilitation.
For feedback, comments, and suggestions for our
next UNCTAD Transport Newsletter, please contact Jan Hoffmann at jan.hoffmann@unctad.org before March 2010
More ...
UNCTAD´s Review of
Maritime Transport has been published annually
since 1968. With more than 80% of international
trade in goods being carried by sea, and an even
higher percentage for the trade of most
developing countries, the Review of Maritime
Transport is an important source of information
for a broad audience. While the main focus of
the Review is on maritime transport, it also
contains some information on developments in
multimodal transport covering land based
transport systems. The Review provides some
analysis of structural and cyclical changes
affecting trade and transport, especially in
developing economies as well as an extensive
collection of statistical information on
maritime transport and related services,
including on:
- Cargo tonnage loaded in world ports
- Developments in the world merchant fleet
- Major events affecting sea transport of
bulk and containerised trades
- Indexes and average freight rates for
major traffics and routes
- Port developments
- Legal and regulatory developments
- Review of transport developments by
geographical region.
The Review of Maritime
Transport 2009 covers developments in maritime
and other modes of transport as well as major
issues occurring over an eighteen month period
from January 2008 until the middle of 2009. It
also supplements long-term statistical series
with new data.
More
A summary of the
proceedings of an Expert Meeting, held on 16-18
February 2009, has been published to present the
key issues discussed by experts and to make
their insights available to a broader audience.
The document is part of UNCTAD´s contribution to
the important debate on action to address the
formidable challenge of climate change.
More >>
The UNCTAD Virtual
Institute and the Division on Technology and
Logistics (DTL) has established an online forum
to welcome discussion on the abovementioned
issues. The key messages of the summary of the
online discussion would later be transmitted for
further consideration by the UNCTAD
Expert Meetings on Public and
private partnerships for the development of
infrastructure to facilitate trade and transport
(8-10 December 2009), and on
Transit ports servicing
landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) (11
December 2009), in Geneva.
How to access the forum?
Please follow these steps to create your account
and participate in the online discussion:
To participate in the debate it is necessary to
create an account and log-in.
1. Fill out the
REGISTRATION FORM (http://vi.unctad.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=registers)
2. Log-in with your "user-name" and "password"
you’ve just created in (1).
3. In the USER MENU, which is visible below the
LOGIN information, click on the "Debates" button.
Whilst you are logged-in, you will have direct
access to the
E- FORUM
The purpose of the
meeting can be summarised as to look at recent
developments that have taken place in transit
ports servicing landlocked developing countries
trade and potential future actions that could
benefit LLDCs. In doing so, the meeting will
look at major challenges and best practices with
a view to assist UNCTAD Secretariat, through the
Division on Technology and Logistics/Trade
Logistics Branch analytical and technical
assistance work programme, to focus on issues
most relevant for LLDCs and transit countries as
highlighted by participating experts.
The meeting will take place on 11 December 2009
in room XXVI of the Palais des Nations of the
United Nations in Geneva.
For more detail please contact:
Mr. Vincent Valentine
Vincent.Valentine@unctad.org
or
Ms. Eugenia Nuñez
Eugenia.Nunez@unctad.org
The meeting will explore
modalities and best practices for PPPs and the
role of technology in developing and operating
efficient transport infrastructure and services
to facilitate international trade and transport
in developing countries.
The meeting will take into account the
implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action
in Land-Locked and Transit Developing Countries
as well as specific issues faced by least
developed countries and small island developing
States.
It will also consider the potential impact of
future commitments ensuing from the World Trade
Organization negotiations on trade facilitation.
The findings and recommendations of this expert
meeting will be reported to the second session
of the Trade and Development Commission, to be
held 3-7 May 2010.
More >>
Biannual meeting of the Global Facilitation
Partnership for Trade and Transport (GFP),
will be jointly organized in partnership with
the African Development Bank.
The theme of our GFP bi-annual meeting will be
“Regional approaches to Trade and Transport
Facilitation”. The meeting will thus explore
regional integration perspectives in order to
raise awareness of the needs at the regional
level. There will also be a chance to discuss
trade and transport facilitation issues with
experts from different organizations as well as
the role of private sector and areas of
opportunities in participating in the process.
Available tools and possible assistance from
GFP’s International Governmental Organizations
core partners will also be presented. And
finally, the meeting will provide practical
examples of successful implementation of TF
measures.
Attendance at the meeting is by invitation only.
Partners are invited to inform GFP Secretariat
of the names of contacts and colleagues they
suggest or would like to forward the invitation
to.
Please kindly mark your calendars.
The registration form and a draft agenda will be
posted shortly at the GFP website
More >>
UNCTAD’s next Multi-year Expert Meeting on
Transport and Trade Facilitation is scheduled
for 8–10 December 2009. It will focus on “public
and private partnerships for the development of
infrastructure to facilitate trade and
transport” and aims at an interrelated
discussion on trade, investment, services and
technical assistance and capacity-building
aspects, and how they interact with trade and
transport facilitation measures. On 11 December,
UNCTAD further organizes an Ad Hoc Expert
Meeting on Transit Ports Servicing Landlocked
Developing Countries (LLDCs), which will provide
an opportunity for experts and different
stakeholders to exchange views on challenges and
opportunities of transit ports that serve LLDCs.
In the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
negotiations on trade facilitation in which
members are engaged in since 2004, the
importance of national coordinating mechanisms
has come to the forefront of countries’
preoccupations. UNCTAD and the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) have
introduced a repository of such mechanisms.
Three articles in this Transport Newsletter look
at different aspects of international transport,
notably liner shipping connectivity and UNCTAD’s
Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI), dry
ports and the Transports Internationaux Routiers
(TIR) Convention. We further announce various
recent and upcoming events and documents
considered of interest for trade facilitation,
transport and development.
For feedback, comments, and suggestions for our
next UNCTAD Transport Newsletter, please contact Jan Hoffmann at jan.hoffmann@unctad.org
by December 2009
More ...
Biannual meeting of the Global Facilitation
Partnership for Trade and Transport (GFP),
organized by UNCTAD and the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
The meeting was organizied to provide an
opportunity for all stakeholders - including
Governments, enterprises, and international and
non-governmental organizations - to discuss
specific concerns and gain a better
understanding of trade facilitation
implementation strategies and instruments to
increase efficiency in international supply
chains.
More >>
At a time of increasing concerns about energy
security and of multiple global crises,
including the global financial crisis and the
food and water crises, which are severely
impacting our ability to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), climate policy action
remains an urgent priority and a major challenge
for the international community. Climate change
poses a potentially permanent and serious threat
to human development and prosperity, with
implications for water and food security, human
health, biodiversity, migration, global trade
and security.
The three-day UNCTAD Expert Meeting on Maritime
Transport and the Climate Change Challenge
(Geneva, 16–18 February 2009) covered issues
such as climate change impacts and challenges,
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from
international shipping and control, approaches
to mitigation and adaptation, and cross-cutting
issues such as energy, technology and financing.
The meeting provided a unique platform for
fruitful and timely informal discussions among
experts from a variety of public and private
sector backgrounds. A key contribution lay in
the fact that it allowed for a broad analysis of
the potential implications of the climate change
challenge for the maritime industry and helped
participants gain a better understanding of the
various maritime industry approaches to
mitigation as well as the urgent need for an
increased focus on climate change impacts and
adaptation. On a related issue, we also report
on the World Ports Climate Initiative launched
by the International Association of Ports and
Harbours.
Two articles in this issue look at maritime
transport issues, notably the linkages between
the global economic crisis and shipping and
liner shipping connectivity in Africa and in
South America.
In the area of trade facilitation, several
articles provide updates on the Automated System
for Customs Data (ASYCUDA), the twice yearly
meeting of the Global Facilitation Partnership,
Saint Lucia’s National Trade Facilitation Task
Force and the WTO Trade Facilitation
Self-Assessment in Afghanistan.
For feedback, comments, and suggestions for our
next UNCTAD Transport Newsletter, please contact Jan Hoffmann at jan.hoffmann@unctad.org before
June 2009
More ...
Over 80% of world trade is carried in seaborne
vessels and — while their engines now contribute
between 1.6 and 4.1% of global carbon dioxide
emissions — their emissions may triple by 2050,
said experts at a three-day UNCTAD meeting.
More >>
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
