Port benefits are therefore increasingly distributed across actors and concern a geography that transcends the local community and at times the region. This trend skews the assessment of the benefits of port investments, where the local impacts can be much less significant than those at the regional or national levels. Conflicts or pressures can result from local communities that may be disappointed because their expectations about the economic benefits of port activities may not be met. Still, in spite of the complexity of assessing their economic impacts, ports remain fundamental to the economic well being of the nations, regions and localities they are embedded in.