The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (the Turkic Council - TC) was established in 2009 as an intergovernmental organization to promote multilateral cooperation among Turkic Speaking States. The four founding member states of the TC are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. In addition, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are two possible future members of the council. This study aims to investigate the infrastructural investment, trade, logistics and transportation potential of the mentioned countries as well as elaborate these activities among the TC’s current and possible future members. For this purpose, firstly, present situation of the trade among the Council’s current and possible future members has been examined. At this point, it is made clear that the trade volume among these six states is not as much as expected, but it is open to healing. Later, the opportunities and the last developments that may increase the trade volume among the TC’s current and possible future members in line with advancement of their infrastructural potential are explored. In reality, the geographic location of these states is very good. Namely, they are on the old trade route known as the Silk Road channels; however, this road was not active for a long time. Recently, this ancient trade route between East and West was aimed to be revived by China. Besides, India is keen to develop another approach of the Silk Road under the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) initiative. In fact, these are great opportunities for the TC’s current and possible future members. That is, there is a very large volume of trade between China and Europe, and currently almost all of this trade is done through sea transport. Hence, if even a small part of this trade is transported by the Chinese Initiative of the Silk Road, its contribution to the current and potential future members of the TC and their integration into each other will be great. However, at this point, there are some tasks that current and potential members of the TC must complete to mobilize the Silk Roads. In fact, opening of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) rail link recently was an important step to make it active, but this is not fully enough. In this work, it is also aimed to set out these tasks from the perspective of each current and potential member. Finally, with the help of this review, the limitations and problems of each state’s infrastructural investment, trade, transport and logistics system have been put forward for improvement studies.

Border clearance processes by customs and other agencies are among the most important and problematic links in the global supply chain. Delays and costs at the border undermine a country’s competitiveness, either by taxing imported inputs with deadweight inefficiencies or by adding costs and reducing the competitiveness of exports. This book provides a practical guide to assist policy makers, administrators, and border management professionals with information and advice on how to improve border management systems, procedures, and institutions.

This series contains the decisions of the Court in both the English and French texts.

Officially announced by Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has since become the centrepiece of China’s economic diplomacy. It is a commitment to ease bottlenecks to Eurasian trade by improving and building networks of connectivity across Central and Western Asia, where the BRI aims to act as a bond for the projects of regional cooperation and integration already in progress in Southern Asia. But it also reaches out to the Middle East as well as East and North Africa, a truly strategic area where the Belt joins the Road. Europe, the end-point of the New Silk Roads, both by land and by sea, is the ultimate geographic destination and political partner in the BRI. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the BRI, its logic, rationale and implications for international economic and political relations.

More than 80 per cent of international trade in goods is carried by sea, and an even higher percentage of developing-country trade is carried in ships. This annual publication is an important source of information on this vital sector. It closely monitors developments affecting world seaborne trade, freight rates, ports, surface transport, and logistics services, as well as trends in ship ownership and control and fleet age, tonnage supply, and productivity. The Review contains a chapter on legal and regulatory developments and each year includes a chapter highlighting a different region.

Global value chains (GVCs) powered the surge of international trade after 1990 and now account for almost half of all trade. This shift enabled an unprecedented economic convergence: poor countries grew rapidly and began to catch up with richer countries. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, the growth of trade has been sluggish and the expansion of GVCs has stalled. Meanwhile, serious threats have emerged to the model of trade-led growth. New technologies could draw production closer to the consumer and reduce the demand for labor. And trade conflicts among large countries could lead to a retrenchment or a segmentation of GVCs. World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains examines whether there is still a path to development through GVCs and trade. It concludes that technological change is, at this stage, more a boon than a curse. GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty provided that developing countries implement deeper reforms to promote GVC participation; industrial countries pursue open, predictable policies; and all countries revive multilateral cooperation.