By Sachin Kumar
DOHA: Qatar has secured second place in the GCC region in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) that ranks 160 countries. Globally, Qatar is on 30th place in the index that reflects a robust and efficient logistic infrastructure such as airport, ports, roads, warehousing and other logistic related services.
With LPI score of 3.60, Qatar is ahead of comparatively advanced economies such as Portugal and New Zealand. Germany is in the top of the ranking as the best performing country with an LPI score of 4.23, and Syria as the lowest, with a score of 1.60. The UAE is in the top among the GCC countries with 13th rank while Oman is on 48th and Saudi Arabia on 52nd rank.
The bi-annual report, ‘Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy’, which ranks countries on their trade logistics performance, is based on survey data from more than 1,200 logistics professionals. Qatar has taken major steps to further improve its infrastructure such as road and train network and ports which will help it to increase its ranking the index in coming years. Efficient logistics connects firms to domestic and international markets through reliable supply chain networks.
Hamad Port was officially opened for early partial operations on December 24, 2015. The port will be fully operational by the end of 2016 when Container Terminal 1 will offer a capacity of 2 million containers per year.
Hamad Port is now receiving general and ‘roll-on/roll-off’ commercial cargo which includes vehicles, livestock and heavy equipment. The first phase of the Doha Metro project is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2019, while completion of the Lusail Tram is set for 2020. By 2030, all the three networks — Doha Metro, Lusail Tram and the long-distance rail, which will link Qatar with the GCC Rail network — are expected to be complete. The report ranks countries on a number of dimensions of supply chain performance, including infrastructure, quality of service, shipment reliability, and border clearance efficiency.
The index analyses countries across six components: efficiency of customs and border management clearance, quality of trade and transport infrastructure, ease of arranging competitively priced shipments, competence and quality of logistics services, ability to track and trace consignments, and the frequency with which shipments reach consignees within scheduled or expected delivery times.
Logistics performance both in international trade and domestically is central to the economic growth and competitiveness of countries, and the logistics sector is now recognised as one of the core pillars of economic development.
Policy makers not only in the best performing countries, but also in emerging economies, increasingly see the need to implement coherent and consistent policies to foster seamless and sustainable supply chain operations as an engine of growth.
The Peninsula
