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The trading expenses encountered domestically and across borders have a detrimental influence on global trade. Higher trade costs hamper trade and limit the benefits of trade liberalisation. The current research applies Novy's micro-founded trade cost measure (2013) to estimate global trade costs connected with Afghanistan, along with the factors that influence trade costs. Based on the investigation, trade in agriculture costs is significantly higher compared to the non-agricultural. As a consequence, focusing on agricultural trade facilitation would be advantageous.

Furthermore, enhancing and expediting trade facilities in trading areas are top priorities for government intervention to reduce trade costs. Focusing on free trade agreements and better shipment communication with trade partners increases transportation routes efficiently, cutting time and other expenses. The study proposes that the World Trade Organization's trade facilitation agreement be effectively implemented, administrative burdens at entry points minimised, non-tariff barriers (NTBs) be simplified and harmonised and soft infrastructures be established utilising current technologies.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and analyze the economic advantage of the geographical location of the Republic of Belarus. The current state of the Belarusian logistics system is analyzed in detail in the chapter. Thus effects of each direction of transportations are analyzed and also approaches to assessment of their cost efficiency are formulated. The factors influencing the export of transport services as well as the development of trends in the transport sector of Belarus are defined. The main directions and ways of improvement of logistics in the Republic of Belarus are described.

Afghanistan has experienced capital flight, which has long perplexed policymakers and planners. There have been widespread concerns about capital's ‘paradoxical’ character, which jeopardises national welfare. In this regard, this study envisages examining the nature and prevalence of reverse capital flight in Afghanistan by employing two methods viz direct approach (Cuddington's Model) and indirect approach (World Bank approach and Morgan approach). The findings highlight four main reasons for reverse capital. These include facilitating the whitening of black money (money laundering) which has been previously illegally flown out of the country; second, it allows import tax evasion and the realisation of unnecessary export rebates and refunds; third, it facilitates the avoidance and incidence of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on imported goods; and finally, it allows for the concealment of investment in the underground economy. The study recommends maintaining a thorough record of illegal cash flows in Afghanistan since the nature of trade in Afghanistan is difficult owing to the simultaneous flow of illicit capital. Furthermore, the unrecorded private investments must be adjusted for illegal capital flows resulting from trade mis-invoicing, thus crucial for policy enunciation.

This chapter focuses on Chinese investments in Tajikistan's transportation and logistics infrastructure. This chapter studies the role and place of Chinese investments in the development of the transport and logistics infrastructure of Tajikistan, the country's exit from the transport and communication deadlock, and the transformation of Tajikistan into a transit country of the Central Asian region. The research raises the issues of the economic efficiency of these investments. The authors apply general scientific methods. Statistical and comparative methods are used to examine the investment cooperation between China and Tajikistan. Compared to other strategic partners of Tajikistan, China greatly contributes to the development of the Tajik economy and ranks first in the list of major investors. Chinese investment in transport made it possible to logistically connect Tajikistan to four neighboring countries through roads and railroads built and reconstructed by Chinese investors and companies. According to the analysis of the research topic, the effective use of Chinese investments for repairing and reconstructing the transport infrastructure of Tajikistan is important for improving the country's transport and logistics system. The two neighboring countries are using economic mechanisms to increase the effectiveness of direct financing by the Chinese government and private companies for transport projects to help Tajikistan overcome its communication isolation and become a transit country in the Central Asian region. This chapter analyzes the experience of successful transport projects with Chinese investments. The analysis showed that Chinese investments in transport have played a key role in improving Tajikistan's economic and social environment.

New computer-assisted techniques for visualizing data are evolving in a number of areas in transportation. For example, in engineering, 3D visualization and microsimulation techniques are being applied for the identification and evaluation of geometric and operational solutions for improving visually impaired pedestrian access to roundabouts and channelized turn lanes. For planning, visualization is being used for corridor analysis. Data visualization is being used as a tool for improving decision-making within transit agencies, as well as a tool for understanding truck trip generation on highways. Many of these new techniques take advantage of archived intelligent transportation systems (ITS) data. Examples of other innovative data sources include global positioning systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), computer-aided design (CAD), and a variety of visualization tools available for use with travel survey data. As these various techniques and software applications move forward, consideration needs to be given to how the “lessons learned” from these applications can facilitate the use of data visualization techniques for travel survey data analysis and decision-making.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – the modern equivalent of the historic Silk Route – will connect China to multiple countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe through a complex web of land and sea routes. As a pilot project of a network of this magnitude, the 62 billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has far-reaching implications for future bilateral agreements with other countries along the routes, and for geopolitics in the region. This chapter will analyze CPEC along the following key strands of inquiry: Pakistan’s internal political economy, her macroeconomic stability, and an analysis of the corridor’s long-term impact.

While the literature on corridors is extensive, it does not give us a unifying theory with which to gauge the effectiveness of CPEC, which is more than an economic endeavor. In order to truly understand the dynamics of the region, the authors examine the extent to which domestic support for the CPEC may impact the whole initiative, and how the deficiencies in local infrastructure may take away from its success.

With the world gradually evolving into a global economy, Africa is playing an increasing role both as a major supplier of commodities and a huge consumer market for products from other parts of the world. Hence, it has become necessary for organisations to understand logistics and supply chain management (SCM) practices in Africa. For organisations that operate in Africa or have business dealings in Africa, it has become a strategic competitive priority to understand the current state of logistics in Africa and identify the challenges and opportunities inherent in the system. Finally, it is essential to learn how to overcome the challenges and maximise the opportunities. This chapter provides a historical and contextual basis for some of the logistics and SCM practices in sub-Saharan Africa. It reviews the current state of logistics management in Africa and identifies the challenges and opportunities that confront anyone interested in doing business in Africa. We reviewed the indigenous management practices that pervade the logistics discipline and highlighted cultural, unique and anecdotal evidence of practices and characteristics peculiar to the African countries. In addition, a comparative analysis of the logistic performance of countries in the region was provided to help readers situate the discussion. We concluded the discussion with some practical suggestions on how to get the best out of the African logistics system.

The impetus was to assess pluses and minuses of a national mandate with specific paratransit guidelines per “the” 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) model. Two European countries were chosen to explore other ways to serve persons with disabilities, not driven by ADA.

This research compared mandates in each area (via a tri-lingual survey) both as related to ADA’s most common practices and the European model of “Persons with Reduced Mobility” (PMRs). After data collection, analysis compared and contrasted ADA and PMR schemes.

Even in California, differences were found among survey sites; for instance, the organization type and mix of services varied greatly, despite a national framework. In Europe, there were more similar approaches among regions where, without a national framework, there was flexible, regional decision-making. In Europe, the national focus is on more regular transit accessibility, maximizing transit use rather than special services.

Five recommendations resulted and apply most directly to California and equally for agencies with or without ADA. The strengths of the PMR approach are transferable to California and the trend among a few California partners to go beyond ADA, while only a local option, reinforces the strength of the PMR solution.

How to improve service and financial performance and enlarge the private sector role are put forward. Existing methods, whether Federal or California-driven, need revisiting to achieve true benefits of coordination.