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The disruption to logistics and freight networks endangers trade and distribution of essential goods to combat the crisis and foster the recovery. Governments should work in coordination with logistics and retail industry, with a view to ensure continuity of shipping, air, trucking, and warehousing capacities at critical gateways and hubs and along trade corridors. The short-term response by governments and the private sector must go beyond addressing the immediate crisis and draw out the path towards economic resilience of the sector. Countries should also coordinate with key trading partners at the sub-regional or international level on policies such as increased e-services at ports and green express lanes for truckers. Countries should not install additional controls on transit commerce. Instead, border control and inspections should be streamlined and harmonized, based on international standards. To manage and ensure functioning of essential transport services, firms can use fewer workers and follow social distancing and other good health practices.

Trade Facilitation --- Transport --- Transport and Trade Logistics

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This strategy and action plan put forward a guiding vision for the trans-Caucasus transit corridor (CTC), with a focus on the part to be played by Georgia and Azerbaijan to develop the CTC into a competitive alternative to other regional routes for the transport of goods, especially for containerized goods between China and Europe, and to promote a solid and professional transport system in the two countries, in association with neighboring economies (Kazakhstan, Turkey, and others). The implementation of this strategy and action plan will ensure that the corridor is operated in an efficient way that augments the economic benefits of the infrastructure works, attracting traffic, and reducing operating costs. The strategy outlines five strategic targets that define a path to successfully navigate the institutional and functional changes presented by the action plan: (i) reduce major nonphysical barriers to the efficiency of the CTC; (ii) remove physical barriers, by, for example, interconnecting infrastructure more efficiently, and installing intermodal facilities; (iii) improve institutional frameworks, including the establishment of a coordinating body to streamline and strengthen governance transport along the CTC and promote and support its development; (iv) develop a transnational regulatory framework; and (v) build capacity in the logistics sector.

Railways Transport --- Roads and Highways --- Transport --- Transport and Trade Logistics

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Following from Vietnam's ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in late 2018 and its effectiveness from January 2019, and the European Parliament's recent approval of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and its subsequent planned ratification by the National Assembly in May 2020, Vietnam has further demonstrated its determination to be a modern, competitive, open economy. As the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis has clearly shown, diversified markets and supply chains will be key in the future global context to managing the risk of disruptions in trade and in supply chains due to changing trade relationships, climate change, natural disasters, and disease outbreaks. In those regards, Vietnam is in a stronger position than most countries in the region. The benefits of globalization are increasingly being debated and questioned. However, in the case of Vietnam, the benefits have been clear in terms of high and consistent economic growth and a large reduction in poverty levels. As Vietnam moves to ratify and implement a new generation of free trade agreements (FTAs), such as the CPTPP and EVFTA, it is important to clearly demonstrate, in a transparent manner, the economic gains and distributional impacts (such as sectoral and poverty) from joining these FTAs. In the meantime, it is crucial to highlight the legal gaps that must be addressed to ensure that national laws and regulations are in compliance with Vietnam's obligations under these FTAs. Readiness to implement this new generation of FTAs at both the national and subnational level is important to ensure that the country maximizes the full economic benefits in terms of trade and investment. This report explores the issues of globalization and the integration of Vietnam into the global economy, particularly through implementation of the EVFTA.

Food Safety --- Foreign Direct Investment --- Globalization --- Rules Of Origin --- Trade Liberalization --- Transport --- Transport and Trade Logistics

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Cost-effective and high quality transport systems are key to modern logistics. Their role can only be expected to grow even as the global economy goes through profound transformation in terms of how, where and when goods are produced or distributed. In many economies and at many different geographical scales, road transport remains the predominant mode of transport and is an indispensable part of how economic agents interact in space. Consumer expectations and production requirements increasingly require that transport operators provide high-quality services that are also safe and affordable for their clients. However, in many countries logistics performance remains too low to effectively contribute to economic and social development. This is the challenge that this Guide seeks to meet, to offer paths to reforming the sector and making it suited to the needs of a highly connected world. The guide is organized in four broad sections. The first three set out the role of road transport in modern economies and the supply chains that characterize them, the principles of reform, and how to gather data and information to conduct a diagnostic and target those reforms. The fourth section offers options and possible paths available to agencies driving the reform process.

Road Safety --- Roads --- Roads and Highways Performance --- Trade Facilitation --- Transport --- Transport and Trade Logistics --- Vehicles

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Uzbekistan is a resource-rich country with a relatively young population of 33 million, the largest in Central Asia. It is also a geographic pivot for the region, bordering all other Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, with transit connections in all directions. As a double landlocked country, it is uniquely dependent on these cross-border transport connections and on how well they work. It can also potentially be the largest market in Central Asia and given its sizeable young labor force and substantial agricultural and manufacturing capacity, a major regional exporter. This note attempts to highlight the potential economic impact of BRI on the Tajik economy. It looks at how, if fully implemented globally, the BRI is expected to achieve better transport connections and greater economic integration of participating BRI countries, discusses improvements in Tajikistan's cross-border transport, electricity and ICT infrastructure to-date, and assesses the potential impact of the completion of all BRI transport projects on Tajik shipment time. It further looks at the likely economic impact of BRI reductions in shipment time on exports, FDI and GDP, and the spatial distribution of benefits within the country and at how complementary polices can enhance the positive impact and mitigate risks. Finally, it examines the fiscal risk of Tajikistan's scaling-up of investment in BRI transport projects in the coming years without undermining medium-term debt sustainability.

Public Investment --- Railways Transport --- Roads and Highways --- Transport --- Transport and Trade Logistics