PortEconomics co-directors Peter de Langen, Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis are the authors of the first PortEconomics editorial published in the Port Technology International Magazine, marking the inauguration of the PortEconomics and Port Technology International ‘partnership in publishing’.
In their editorial entitled “The Quality of Port Infrastructure ranking: Some insights” Peter, Theo and Thanos discuss the port infrastructure rankings provided by the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF). In sports, and increasingly in business, rankings abound.
Today, we have rankings of the best places to live, the most knowledge intensive regions of the world and the most competitive economies. In the latter case, countries are compared across economic performance criteria. One of the most influential is the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The 2012-2013 WEF ranking appeared last September. Switzerland is on top, moving ahead of Singapore. The WEF ranking consists of over 100 ranked items, classified in 12 pillars. For each pillar, some rankings are survey based, while others are based on actual data.
Through the provision of cost-efficient, reliable and frequent connections to overseas and inland markets seaports play an essential role in facilitating trade and in increasing the competitiveness of a nation or region. It is no surprise that Pillar 2 of the GCI dealing with infrastructure includes a component on the ‘Quality of Port Infrastructure’.
You can freely download the viewpoint: PTI56-2012-Quality of port infrastructure ranking
