Local logistics sector is well despite ranking slip: Official

Cambodia’s global logistics performance ranking dropped 25 spots to 98th this year after achieving a commendable 73rd in 2016, the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) said, but local experts questioned the lack of clarity on the ranking slip.

Among the Asean nations, Cambodia ranked 9th behind Lao PDR with Myanmar in the tenth position. Cambodia scored 2.58 out of 5, down from 2.80 in 2016.

But the slip is not a sign that it is all gloomy for the Cambodian logistics sector, said the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MPWT) spokesperson Vasim Sorya.

Mr Sorya, told Khmer Times yesterday it is normal for the World Bank to raise or to put down the ranking for each country but it does not mean the local logistics sector is poor or has not improved.

“They look at the various performances of the logistics sector, including import and export activities. This year’s ranking does not mean that our logistics sector is poor or has not improved. It is because other countries have performed better than Cambodia and this has resulted in a surge in their rankings.

“If there is continued increase in our import, export and trade activities, the ranking will improve. But our logistics sector has seen very little improvement while other countries are far better than us.

“We are trying our best to improve the infrastructure in the country to support the private sector to make our logistics competitive enough,” he said.

The global ranking, which measures the performance of 160 countries, ranks countries on six dimensions of trade — custom performance, infrastructure quality, international shipments, logistics quality and competence, tracking and timeliness of shipments.

Read more...