Book Description

In the last decade developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region achieved a high degree of economic growth, and this was accompanied by a rapid increase in sea carried overseas trade. In 1998 nine out of the world's twenty largest container ships were from Asia but their ownership was limited to a handful of countries in the region. The disparity between the success stories and the shipping services of the majority of the region's developing countries is very wide and still widening. Part of the explanation for this is that while developing countries wish to maintain a shipping presence, their shipping industries have not been afforded the high priority within the industrial development of these countries. Recently countries in the region have recognised that shipping services are an important element of continued economic growth, and that unless concerted action is taken, their national shipping services will be marginalised by the global competition. The dilemma for many countries is this: on the one hand they wish to maintain a presence through the development of national shipping capabilities; on the other hand they want their overseas trade to enjoy the competitive shipping services offered by foreign shipping lines. National maritime administrations must evaluate the shipping potential of their country and formulate appropriate shipping policies to reconcile these issues. The focus of this publication is trade and service related shipping policies. It sets out issues that should be considered by policy makers in determining national shipping policies and provides a framework and the tools to analyse these issues. A policy that is appropriate for one country may not be appropriate for another, and so each country has to work out its shipping policies in the overall context of national economic objectives and its shipping potential.