INGENIEUR
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ordination across many sectors and providing details on the approach to ensure success .
SEAMLESS LOGISTICS
The region ’ s customs and logistics costs remain far higher than international benchmarks . Improving logistics competitiveness will be crucial if ASEAN is to maintain its recent strong manufacturing growth as wages rise across the region . The strategic objectives and initiatives for seamless logistics are outlined in Figure 5 .
Lower supply chain costs in each ASEAN Member State . At present , there are large divergences among ASEAN Member States across different areas of logistics , including green logistics . The aim is to lower logistics costs by drawing on appropriate metrics for trading across borders .
Improve speed and reliability of supply chains in each ASEAN Member State : Similar to the cost of logistics , the speed and reliability of logistics in terms of time spent in ports , customs , and in-land transport need to be improved considerably by assessing various bottlenecks in the supply-chain process . Currently , ASEAN Members States ’ speed of logistics based on World Bank ’ s metrics for trading across borders shows divergence in performance and they are well below global benchmarks ( e . g . the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , or OECD average .)
Initiative 8 : Strengthen ASEAN Competitiveness through Enhanced Trade Routes and Logistics .
This initiative aims to conduct an analysis of time and costs for different stages of priority trade routes in ASEAN in order to identify bottlenecks . There is a lack of detailed information on key logistic networks in ASEAN . For example , the World Bank Logistics Performance Index ( LPI ) has a country-specific focus ( rather than regional focus ) and lacks granularity on specific bottlenecks . The Japan External Trade Organisation ( JETRO ) ASEAN Logistics Network map was an attempt to provide more granular information on seven priority trade routes in ASEAN , but has not been updated recently or expanded to cover more of ASEAN ’ s trade routes . The lack of detailed logistical information for ASEAN makes it difficult to identify specific bottlenecks and prioritise actions .
The ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Strategic Transport Plan 2016-2025 have called for the construction of a database covering the ASEAN land transport network and conducting time release studies to measure the time required for goods vehicles crossing the border . There is an opportunity for MPAC 2025 to support this by working with academic institutions , multilateral organisations , the private sector and Dialogue Partners to conduct an analysis of time and costs for different stages of the trade route and identify bottlenecks . To establish the database , the first step is to identify the priority trade lanes or economic corridors to be analysed under the database . Priority commodities then need to be selected for monitoring . Selection criteria could include the relevance of the corridors and products for trade flows , their importance to the private sector , their relevance to multiple ASEAN Member States , and the coverage of both maritime and land corridors .
To ensure continuity in the development and updating of the database on a regular basis , identification of research partners will be an essential component of this initiative . As a step towards developing this database , the pilot ASEAN Custom Transit System project involving Malaysia , Singapore , and Thailand , as identified under the Senior Transport Officials Meeting ( STOM ) could be a starting point . This can then be used to inform priority reform areas over time . The information generated through the database could then be made widely available to the private sector , as well as the countries ’ logistics councils and national logistics industry associations , to inform decisions on how to clear bottlenecks in relation to various speed and cost issues .
Initiative 9 : Enhance Supply Chain Efficiency through Addressing Key Chokepoints .
This initiative focuses on developing a supply chain framework that will provide a holistic measure of supply chain performance in ASEAN . It would begin by identifying specific trade
68 VOL 71 JULY - SEPTEMBER 2017