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MANILA – The Philippines landed at the 43rd spot in the World Bank’s (WB) Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2023, the country’s highest ranking in the logistics report since 2007.
The country leapfrogged by 17 spots from its ranking in 2018 at 60th place.
The LPI ranks a country’s logistics performance in terms of customs efficiency, quality of trade and transport infrastructure, ease of arranging competitively priced shipments, competence, quality of logistics services, tracking system and timeliness.
This year’s global logistics survey covered 139 countries.
This is also the first logistics performance report during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic when the world experienced unprecedented supply chain disruptions and delivery times soared.
“Logistics are the lifeblood of international trade, and trade in turn is a powerful force for economic growth and poverty reduction,” World Bank Global Director for Trade, Investment and Competitiveness Mona Haddad said.
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ ranking has tied with Vietnam but is higher than Indonesia (61st) and Cambodia (115th). However, it is behind Thailand (34th), Malaysia (26th) and Singapore (1st).
Christina Wiederer, senior economist at the World Bank Group’s Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment Global Practice and the co-author of the report, said while most time in international trading is spent in shipping, the biggest delays are observed at seaports, airports and multimodal facilities.
On the other hand, the report said end-to-end supply chain digitalization has cut port delays by 70 percent in developing countries.
The report said there is growing demand for "green logistics", as 75 percent of shippers prefer environmental-friendly options when exporting to high-income countries. (PNA)
