Sri Lanka climbs World Bank logistics ranking

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The World Bank logistics ranking for 2012 released recently has ranked Sri Lanka in 81 position.

This is the third edition of connecting to Compete: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy, produced by the world bank once in two years. The LPI measures on the ground trade logistics performance in 155 countries, helping national leaders, key policymakers, and private sector traders understand the challenges they and their trading partners face, in reducing logistical barriers to international commerce. A good LPI index is a definite incentive for foreign investment

“The country has climbed more than 50 positions in the 2012 survey to be ranked 81 out of 155 countries. This is no doubt a huge improvement and also confirms our stand, that the assessment done in 2010 may have been distorted due to the situation that prevailed in the country,”

Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders Association (SLFFA) Chairman Mohan S Mohanadas said. Infrastructure is the key to progress as the top performers in the LPI, supported by Logistics Services and Customs Boarder Management, as noted in the report. Strong cooperation between the public and private sector and a comprehensive approach in the development of services and infrastructure, have resulted in efficient logistics it also said.

“We have made good progress in the physical infrastructure development in terms of roads, ports and airport, in the recent years and we see continuous progress in that area. “Though the Customs and Port through their concerted efforts have partially automated the entry processing and online payments, which must be congratulated, we as a country are far behind in EDI, compared to what is happening around us,” Mohanadas said.