Philippines up 17 spots to 43rd place in WB logistics index

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines moved up 17 places to the 43rd spot out of 139 countries in this year’s World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI), which measures countries’ ability to trade goods across borders with speed and reliability.

The report showed other countries in the same rank as the Philippines are Croatia, Czechia, Malta, Oman, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Vietnam.

In the previous edition of the report released in 2018, the Philippines ranked 60th.

The World Bank’s latest report showed the country’s score also improved to 3.3 this year from 2.90 in 2018.

Rankings and scores are based on a survey conducted from Sept.6 to Nov.5 last year, with logistics professionals asked to assess how easy or difficult it is to trade manufactured goods with countries.

Countries were assessed on a five-point scale based on six components of logistics performance.

The Philippines’ ranking went up in five of the six components of logistics performance covered by the report.

In particular, the Philippines placed 59th in customs performance this year from 85th in 2018.

In terms of infrastructure, the Philippines climbed to 47th place this year from 67th in 2018.

As for logistics competence and equality, the country got the 46th spot this year, an improvement from the 69th spot in 2018.

When it comes to timeliness, the Philippines placed 21st this year, from 100th in 2018.

In tracking and tracing, the country ranked 49th this year from 57th in 2018.

Meanwhile, it dropped to 47th place in international shipments this year from 37th in 2018.

Among countries covered by this year’s LPI, Singapore placed first.

On the other hand, both Afghanistan and Libya got the last or 138th spot.

Despite the disruptions brought by the pandemic, the World Bank said overall, logistics performance has remained stable or improved, which may be due to the ability of logistics service providers to adapt to changes.

“Logistics are the lifeblood of international trade, and trade in turn is a powerful force for economic growth and poverty reduction,” said Mona Haddad, global director for trade, investment and competitiveness at the World Bank.

Through the LPI, she said developing countries would know what improvements are needed to improve trade competitiveness.

“While most time is spent in shipping, the biggest delays occur at seaports, airports, and multimodal facilities. Policies targeting these facilities can help improve reliability,” Christina Wiederer, senior economist with the World Bank Group’s macroeconomics, trade and investment global practice and the report’s co-author, said.

For the World Bank, policies needed include improving clearance processes and investing in infrastructure, using digital technologies, and incentivizing environmentally sustainable logistics options, which include moving to less carbon-intensive freight modes and more energy-efficient warehousing.