Jamaica jumps to 70th place on Logistics Performance Index

Jamaica has leapt 54 places – from 124^th to 70^th – in the latest World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI)

At the higher end of the ranking, Singapore has dropped from first position to number five, with Germany moving into the top spot.

The index reflects each country’s performance in a number of areas, including the competence of its human capital in related activities, the state of its infrastructure and its customs procedures.

In the Caribbean, Jamaica is behind two other countries – The Bahamas (66) and Dominican Republic (69). Panama lies in 45^th position, while the United States is 9^th in the ranking.

Incresed awareness

According to a knowledgeable local source, Jamaica’s improvement on the index can be attributed, in part, to increased awareness of the importance of logistics and the additional training that is being undertaken to better equip the country to be a serious contender in global logistics, plus ongoing improvements in key infrastructure, such as the seaports and airports.

On the other hand, the source advised, the country’s customs procedures are still behind the highest global standards, with an emphasis on revenue enhancement rather than trade facilitation.

Each ranked country is given a score, with Germany, the top nation, having a score of 4.12. Jamaica’s score is 2.84, a performance rating of 59% of that of the highest performer.

Logistics Hub

The importance of logistics to the Jamaican economy has taken on added significance in the last two years, with the government announcing plans to position the country as a global logistics hub .

Significant ongoing training and public awareness initiatives have been proceeding alongside efforts to attract investors to develop the facilities required to achieve this objective.

The Logistics Performance Index has been published every two years since 2007.