Linking Asia’s Trade, Logistics, and Infrastructure

The reemergence of Asia as an economic powerhouse, mostly attributed to the expansion of its international trade, has been facilitated and encouraged by the development of infrastructure and logistics services. Infrastructure services, from both hard and soft infrastructure lower transaction costs, raise value added and increase potential profitability while also expanding linkages to global supply chains and distribution networks for producers. Asia’s trade patterns are largely characterized by a high degree of intraregional trade. Logistics services play a key role and the challenges of providing efficient logistical support as countries move into a progressively more complex and high-value manufacturing and as production process become increasingly fragmented.[WP no 128]