The Battle of Landlocked Countries

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In the world today we have seen much technological advancement in transportation which has allowed the world to be a much more connected place in communication and trade. However, many landlocked countries in Africa still face an uphill battle when it comes to international trading. Much of their economic issues are a result of their distance from the coast, this paper will however will look at how dependency on foreign relations is the biggest factor on whether the country will be This paper will shed light on how the geography of a country play a significant role on how successful a country is economically. How landlocked countries’ economies are dependent on the policies of bordering countries. The paper will conclude with a set of policy recommendations that will attempt to offer solutions to landlocked countries
In 2002, a study was done called the Human Development Report concluded that the countries with the lowest levels of Human Development Index scores were all landlocked countries. Trade is the biggest reason why these countries has a continually battle to grow their economy. Landlocked countries have to travel long distances to be able to reach ports for international trading. As a result, many landlocked countries would have to go through either one or two neighboring countries. These relationships always favor coastal countries because they will place high transportation costs on landlocked countries in order to gain a distant advantage over them. If we look at the statistics from, Human Development Report 2002 the ratio of transportation and insurance to value of exports for Mali is 35% compared to South Africa which is 8%. This is nearly 4 times the amount which is a costly disadvantage for Mali. Growth of an econo...

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...Least affected areas The most notable exception to the administrative burdens of transit is found in Bhutan. All Bhutanese transit trade through India is handled by Bhutan’s own customs agency. Hence, administratively Bhutan can trade as if it were not landlocked. This is largely a result of strong Bhutanese–Indian relations and the minimal amount of Bhutanese transit trade. In other instances, efforts to reduce administrative charges and delays have taken place at the regional level. The countries of SADC and the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), for example, have introduced common licenses and third-party insurance guarantees across countries, significantly reducing transit costs (see more details in the
Appendix). Similar efforts are being made in South America through the regional trade institutions to simplify transit procedures.
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