1. Introduction
According to Wilson et al. (2003, p 369), trade openness or friendliness addresses “the logistics of moving goods through ports or more efficiently moving customs documentation associated with cross-border trade”. We will use the terms openness and interchangeably given the current climate to move and measure trade between nations in as liberal and as simplified as possible. In a broader sense, trade friendliness includes the transparency and professionalism of the customs and regulatory environments, as well as the harmonization of trade standards, and the conformance to international or regional regulations. In other words, trade friendliness is a measure of free trade between two or more nations. Trade friendliness is inhibited when nations attempt to protect their markets by imposing quotas and tariffs. Trade friendliness is also inhibited when nations implement policies that discriminate between indigenous and foreign firms. Other factors that inhibit trade friendliness include the higher transportation costs and increased administrative costs associated with, for example, product and distribution approval in offshore markets. However, a number of countries are realizing the inefficiencies (particularly in terms of the cost and time incurred) that are brought about by the lack of trade friendliness. In the context of logistics processes of multimodal transport, governments and countries are keen to improve the firm' productivity and efficiency (Nguyen and Crase, 2011). Therefore, a number of countries have committed to multi-lateral or bilateral trade agreements to remove the barriers to free trade. A case in point is that of the European Union where the member nations have come together to collectively develop a free trade zone. In short, trade friendliness is akin to the commercial characteristic of being open and willing to accommodate where trade flows are concerned.