The World Logistics Passport (WLP) has welcomed India, Indonesia and South Africa as members.
They join Colombia, Senegal, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates in a club of trading nations sharing expertise to smooth trade flows around the world.
The WLP, a policy initiative established to increase trading opportunities between emerging markets, creates opportunities for business across Africa, Asia, Central and South America to improve existing trading routes, and develop new ones, through the world’s first logistics loyalty programme for freight forwarders and traders.
It overcomes nontariff trade barriers by fast-tracking cargo movement, reducing administrative costs, advancing cargo information and facilitating movement between ports and air.
The benefits are aimed at local and foreign producers, and the WLP process is to work with partners to identify pain points in the trade and logistics journey and then find and implement solutions.
Local manufacturers and businesses will be able to benefit from quicker processes, less documentation and lower costs when exporting from the country.
Improving trade is a priority for South Africa to boost job creation and support export-led growth.
The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce has signed a framework agreement with the WLP and held bilateral negotiations with the government, as joining the WLP is considered a key enabler of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and will open up new market potential among countries in the region.
The WLP programme is closely aligned with South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030, which aims to increase intra-regional trade and improve trade penetration into fast-growing markets in Asia and Latin America.
The WLP is also working on increasing routing options to South Africa, opening up a diversified range of export markets to promote trade penetration in fast-growing economies.
As an example of the WLP’s international record, the statement on February 4 noted that, in Dubai, 12 local providers have confirmed more than 50 benefits which have, in turn, been applied to over 300 traders, accounting for about 50% of the emirate’s trade.
Since its inception in 2019, the WLP has generated more than three-billion Arab Emirates dirham in total trade.
According to WLP CEO Mike Bhaskaran, “the World Logistics Passport increases resilience in global supply chains and removes the barriers that prevent developing economies from trading as freely as they might, which is more important than ever as governments around the world seek to recover from the economic impact of Covid-19”.