DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS SERVICES
Report by the UNCTAD secretariat
Executive Summary
The cost and quality of multimodal transport and logistics services are increasingly relevant
for the participation of developing countries in the globalized economy. It is estimated that a doubling
of transport costs leads to a drop in the economic growth rate of more than half a percentage point and
that variables related to transport costs account for more than two thirds of the statistical variation in
per capita income between countries.
For today’s requirements, traditional transport services are often insufficient. What is needed
today are more complete logistics services, involving the use of ICT and multimodal transport
operations which have a service provider assuming responsibility for the entire transport chain. This
type of service is often not available in developing countries, and practically non-existent in LDCs,
landlocked countries and most SIDS. For these countries, there exists the danger of increased
marginalization, with lack of multimodal transport and logistics services becoming a serious obstacle
to trade. Low trade volumes, in turn, make it less likely that transport operators will provide the
required services. This is a vicious cycle that needs to be broken.
The determinants of inexpensive and high-quality transport and logistics services include
exogenous factors, such as distance or total trade volumes. They do, however, also include areas
where the public sector can make a difference. Such areas where obstacles to multimodal transport
and logistics services exist can be grouped into (a) infrastructure and technologies, (b) security and
safety, (c) facilitation, (d) legal aspects and (e) market access. While necessary action in many cases
has to be taken at the national level, there are important areas where the international community
should provide assistance through coordination, technical assistance, multilateral agreements and
common legal frameworks.