Recession, European debt crisis stalls trade logistics performance

Progress in trade logistics performance slowed down over the last two years amid the global recession, but countries that pursued aggressive reforms continued to improve their performance, according to the World Bank's latest survey on trade logistics.

Singapore is the top performer among the 155 economies included in the logistics performance indicators, which are part of the Connecting to Compete 2012: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy report. Countries like Chile, China, India, Morocco, South Africa, Turkey, and the U.S. all improved their previous performance, according to the study, which is based on a comprehensive world survey of international freight forwarders and express carriers.

"Trade logistics is key to economic competitiveness, growth, and poverty reduction," said Otaviano Canuto, World Bank vice president for poverty reduction and economic management. "Unfortunately, the logistics gap between rich and poor countries continues and the convergence trend experienced between 2007 and 2010 has stalled as events like the global recession, and the European debt crisis shifted attention away from logistics reform."