Improving logistics - a key to trade prosperity

Improving trade performance to kick start economic growth has been one of the key agenda of the current government. Leading policymakers, academia and government officials alike are envisaging the country to become a trade corridor and its connectivity with the world as the game changers.
Gwadar-Khashgar corridor to China, the corridor to Central Asia via Afghanistan, and India-Pakistan-Afghanistan-Central Asia corridor are the three main gateways that have formed the core of experts advice on improving regional trade.
A cursory look at the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in World Banks latest report on trade logistics in the global economy shows that Pakistan is amongst the top ten lower middle-income performers on the 2014 LPI. Also the country stands at the 72nd rung of the trade logistics ladder out of 160 countries, according to the report titled Connecting to Compete 2014: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy. Considering the countrys performance in other global ranking, thats not bad as a starting point.
The Logistics Performance Index, which is defined as a benchmarking tool developed by the World Bank that measures performance along the logistics supply chain within a country, is a weighted average score of six key factors affecting global trade logistics. Pakistan performs the best on the ease of arranging competitively priced shipments and efficiency of customs and border clearance. It also fares well along the quality of infrastructure dimension.
On the other hand, the problematic area as per the study is the timeliness; even within South Asia, where Pakistan ranks higher than Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in overall logistics, the study shows that country is way behind in frequency with which shipments reach consignees within scheduled or expected delivery times.
All such factors are directly associated with not only the supply chain but also the predictability of service delivery. And what else could be better in opening the country to economic development than good infrastructure, transportation and transit rules. Its time that the country makes use of its strategic location not only as a gateway to Central Asia, which would change the oil and energy game, but also as an efficient logistics hub for transit trade.