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Publication Enhancing Competition Conditions and Competitiveness of Philippine Domestic Shipping(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-09) World Bank GroupFor the economy to attain its full potential, the Philippines requires an efficient water transport system. However, this is presently not the case. The domestic shipping industry is characterized by high costs, low quality of service, and a poor safety record. Logistics cost accounts for 24-53 percent of wholesale price, while shipping and port handling cost around 8 percent of wholesale price and 5 percent of retail price. Philippine domestic shipping is generally more expensive than in Malaysia or Indonesia, 2 other archipelagos. Moreover, it is more expensive to transport goods between 2 Philippine ports than between 2 Philippine ports via an international port. In the East Asia region, the Philippines trails behind its neighbors in various logistics performance and connectivity indices. For instance, in liner shipping connectivity, the Philippines ranked 66th out of 157 countries in 2013, and performs the worst among a group of East Asian comparators. Delays in shipment, slow cargo handling, and frequent accidents are the top complaints of businesses. In the East Asia Region, the Philippines has the highest absolute casualty rate and this is 40 percent higher than the second ranked country, Indonesia. On average, there are 228 ships involved in accidents and 303 casualties per year in the Philippines. In seeking to enhance competition in the delivery of domestic shipping services, this assessment has therefore focused particularly on measures that would increase the opportunities and incentives for new players to enter the market, and for existing operators to expand or vary the services they offer.Publication Policy Options for Liberalizing Philippine Maritime Cabotage Restrictions(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-07) World Bank GroupThe purpose of this policy note is to present reform options on cabotage liberalization. The goal of cabotage liberalization is to help i) foster more competition in the domestic shipping industry, ii) reduce shipping cost, and iii) improve efficiency, maritime services, and safety standards. These, together with complementary reforms in domestic shipping and ports, can help enhance consumer and producer welfare through lower consumer prices, higher household real income, timely delivery of goods, and ultimately, job creation and poverty reduction through greater market access. This policy note on cabotage is organized as follows. Part one provides an overview of the domestic shipping industry and discusses the key issues that it faces. Part two discusses the underlying reasons for the industry’s inefficiency. Part three discusses the concept of cabotage, the cost and benefit of cabotage liberalization, and the cabotage regimes of the Philippines and of selected countries. Part four closes with a discussion of reform options.Publication Air Transport : Challenges to Growth(World Bank, 2009-06-01) World BankThe air transport market in Sub-Saharan Africa presents a strong dichotomy. In Southern and East Africa the market is growing: three strong hubs and three major African carriers dominate international and domestic markets, which are becoming increasingly concentrated. In contrast, in Central and West Africa the sector is stagnating, with the vacuum created by the collapse of Cote d'Ivoire and the demise of several regional airlines, including Air Afrique, still unfilled. Throughout, there are many unviable small state-owned operations that depend on subsidies and have a monopoly over the domestic market. There are also some promising signs: growth in air traffic has been buoyant, the number of routes and the size of aircraft are being adapted to the market, and a number of large carriers are viable and expanding. But in spite of this, overall connectivity has been declining. As oil prices rise, the role of air transportation will be looked at even more critically. Africa is a poor continent, and some countries face the potential of further isolation as the cost of flying increases. At a time when Africa's infrastructure requirements are being widely debated, a more complete inventory of air transport capabilities is sought. This report will focus on industry organization within Africa; overall accessibility; and the quality of oversight and infrastructure installations countrywide and at selected airports with various capacities. Beyond data collected from questionnaires sent directly to the civil aviation authorities (CAAs) in each country, this report relies on data collected through a variety of other sources, especially from the providers of flight schedules to global reservation systems, for an independent analysis of trends.Publication Review of the Air Transport Sector in Tajikistan(Washington, DC, 2006-06-30) World BankThe aviation sector in Tajikistan is struggling today under a very restrictive air transport policy. Together with it, the whole economy of the country is being deprived from the derived benefits of better connectivity, such as trade, travel, and technology transfer. While maintaining safety as the highest single priority, the Government recognizes that the air transport policy should allow for a liberalization of the markets, allowing better connectivity with more efficient services at lower prices. The only possible way to ensure the implementation of a liberalized policy, an appropriate institutional framework needs to be in place, allowing for the complete separation between the policy maker, the technical regulator and the operation. The airline, the airport, and the air traffic control will be separated in order to assure truly competition. Currently, all operations activities are concentrated at Tajikistan State Airlines (TSA). TSA is today an inefficient company that provides poor service to its customers at prices that are high and provide an involuntary price umbrella for the competition. Its present existence was granted by a protective environment, where a concentrated institutional framework allowed regulation to be tinted by policy motivations. Instead of promoting transparency in accounting and efficiency in operations, there have been initiatives to grant further loans that would end up fueling costs and inefficiencies, while not achieving any of the promised results. At bottom, all these inefficiencies are paid by the migrant worker community that travels to Russia at unjust air fares, representing a substantial part of their earnings. A new policy that would liberalize the sector will promote efficiency and lower the costs of travel, relieving the tax on a huge mass of people, which is crucial to the economy of Tajikistan.