After The World Bank released the fifth edition of its bi-annual study, "Connecting to Compete", in late June 2016, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce has published its own thoughts on logistics in Luxembourg.
The study examined how efficiently a country was able to move goods and create links between manufacturers and customers in international markets, pointing to efficient logistics chains as important factors in widening market access and, in so doing, enhancing market opportunities.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, support for logistics and efforts undertaken by the sector in recent years have paid off, as reflected in Luxembourg's climb from 8th place in the Logistics Performance Index in 2014 to 2nd position currently.
"On behalf of Cluster for Logistics, I want to thank the logistics sector operators for this performance which demonstrates that a collaborative approach is capable of generating," commented Zeniti Malik, manager of the Luxembourg Cluster. "Now the confidence that clients will place in us will help us stabilise this beautiful position by addressing the issues that we can improve on together."
The study by the World Bank was based on a survey of freight forwarders and international carriers from 160 different countries around the world, as well as on qualitative data relating to the performance of a series of key components of the supply chain, such as infrastructure, quality of service, reliability of shipments and the efficiency of customs clearance procedures.
From this, The World Bank was able to generate an index ranking the performance of countries in this field from 1 (low performance) to 5 (excellent performance). The international LPI ranking was led by Germany with a score of 4.23, with Luxembourg hot on its heels with 4.22. Sweden took third place with 4.20. Luxembourg's other neighbours found themselves slightly lower in the list with the Netherlands in fourth place (4.19), Belgium in 6th (4.11) and France in 16th (3.90).
The Grand Duchy performed the best in terms of the frequency with which shipments reach the consignee within the expected delivery time, where it earned a score of 4.80. It also fared well in terms of ease of arranging international shipments at competitive prices and the quality of its business infrastructure and transport - subcategories in which it was scored 4.24 each.
It was found 8th overall with a score of 4.12 for its ability to track and trace shipments and in 10th place (4.01) for competence and quality of logistics services. Its lowest score, of 3.90, was in the effectiveness of customs clearance procedures.
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