Trade and transport corridors - major routes that facilitate the movement of people and goods between regions and between countries - have existed for millennia. They enable regions and countries to offer high-capacity transport systems and services that reduce trade and transport costs by creating economies of scale. Regional corridors are particularly important to landlocked countries, often providing the only overland routes to regional and international markets. Despite a long and complex history, guidance is often lacking on how to design, determine the components to include, and analyse the impact of corridor projects. The Trade and Transport Corridor Management Toolkit fills this void. The Toolkit synthesizes the experiences of the World Bank and other development agencies in assessing, designing, implementing, and evaluating the impact of trade and transport corridor projects. It saves project developers the task of looking for the best available tools and ensures greater consistency to facilitate comparison and benchmarking. The Toolkit will also be of immense value to policy makers in provincial and national governments as well as regional economic institutions, for several reasons: Corridors affect the space economy of countries; they are best developed with clear estimates of the spatial impacts that can be expected. A corridor system has multiple components, including infrastructure (roads, railways, ports), transport and logistics services, and regulations; it is important to appreciate the linkages between them, particularly as the overall performance of a corridor is determined by the weakest component. Many parties with varying interests and motivations have a stake in corridor development. The Toolkit argues for their full participation in corridor development processes and operations. The best functioning modern corridors in the world did not happen by accident; they are often the results of coordinated development and cooperation over many years. The general principles outlined in this Toolkit should help project teams, government officials, logistics service providers, and the trade community to better appreciate both the importance of good corridor project design and the challenges of, and possibilities from, improving corridor performance.

Road freight transport plays an indispensable role in international economic cooperation and foreign trade. For short and medium distances in particular, road freight transport constitutes a predominant share of overall traffic, but it also plays a significant role in long distance haulage, where time is more of an issue. Therefore, efforts should be made to minimize any physical or administrative barriers hampering international road freight transport, given the integral part it plays in the global trade logistics industry. This study was motivated by a realization that, in the absence of full liberalization of market access, bilateral agreements are the main instrument used to govern and regulate international road transport services. Depending on their scope and the rights they grant, bilateral agreements reflect the degree of market openness between countries. The study finds that: The texts of the bilateral agreements remain, for the most part, unknown to their intended users. Even bilateral agreements regulating the same area tend to be different in their content. There is no overarching international template for bilateral road transport agreements. Where model agreements have been used to fill the void, their objective and limitations are not clearly defined. There are several core elements that any bilateral road transport agreement should contain, including provisions on scope, permit management, transit rights, cabotage and other limitations, and routes. Agreements should limit the possibilities of interpretations, rent seeking behaviors and other inefficient practices. Assessing the extent to which bilateral agreements have been implemented is difficult, yet any agreement is only as good as the extent of its implementation and enforcement. More energy should be invested in supporting the proper implementation of trade facilitation measures. The report demonstrates that it is possible to follow a systematic methodology to assess bilateral agreements between countries, and the extent to which any agreement contributes to integrated and efficient international road transport services. The report s main message is that reform should navigate a clearly defined path, which takes into account different technical, political and economic considerations."

Small scale producers in developing countries lack easy access to efficient logistics services. They are faced with long distances from both domestic and international markets. Unless they consolidate their trade volumes they face high costs which diminish their ability to trade. However, the process of consolidation is not without cost nor does it occur on its own accord. As a result, the consolidation is typically handled by intermediaries. Using case studies of sisal and soybean supply chains in Brazil and India respectively, this study explores the role and impact of intermediaries in facilitating trade in lagging regions. The study assesses the horizontal relationships between the small scale producers in thin markets and the vertical connections between different tiers of the same supply chain. The study analyzes the traditional approach to linking producers namely through cooperatives and itinerant traders and the relatively newer innovations using ICT. The study finds that farmers linked through the different mechanisms are more integrated to international supply chains or are able to better manage supply chains longer than would otherwise be the case. Intermediaries play several roles including providing transport services and facilitating market exchanges, payments, risk sharing and quality improvements. Generally, information technology driven innovations make it easier to integrate adjacent steps in the value chain. This report on logistics performance at the sub-national level is an on-going endeavour. Similar analysis is being carried out in some countries in Africa to identify the evolving role of intermediaries in low income regions. The results will be developed into a major publication on this topic, with recommendations on how development agencies, civil society and the private sector can improve the design of strategies to reduce logistics costs in low income areas.