International transit
International transit transport in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS)[1] has
been the subject of much discussion in recent years with Bezy (1996)
highlighting the areas where effort has been focused. Field missions to
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam in 1994, to Cambodia in
1995 and to Myanmar in 1996 have shown that:
There is an insufficient use of key waterways. There is a need to encourage and promote freight forwarding, the
development of multimodal transport and integrated transport
logistics.
There is a need to promote the development and expansion of the Inland
Clearance Depot (ICD) concept. Documentation, customs procedures and data exchange need to be
simplified and harmonised. Greater use of rail transport (partly through the ICD concept) should be
encouraged.
Better cross-border co-operation and transport co-ordination is needed. The use of combined transport or multimodal transport document
should be expanded. ASYCUDA (Automatic System for Customs Data) and EDI (Electronic
Data Interchange) should be adopted as widely as possible, bringing
time, security and cost benefits.