Pan-Pacific Conference XXXIV. Designing New Business Models in Developing Economies

0.85
customs, the reduction in time to export (import)
and the reduction in lead times. Export increased
from an index value of 0.6 in 2005 to 1.1 in 2014.
2007 2010 2012 2014
impacted by excessive use of road over rail for long
distances of inland linkages. Inland road linkages
are mostly in good condition on main corridors but
problematic on feeder roads as there is a general
deterioration of infrastructure. Finally the time to
import and export is improving, but still long
compared to developed countries owing to border
congestion and corruption at border posts remain
problematic.
It is recommended that the South African
government and other role players take into account
the significant impact that logistics has on the
country’s competitiveness. Improvements in these
elements will results in improvements in trade
which is instrumental in the country’s growth and
development.
Figure 9: Imports and customs procedures
Similarly, imports increased from an index value of
0.7 to 1.2 between 2005 and 2014. However, the
cost to export (import) increased with both exports
and imports. The higher fixed costs associated with
organizing an export or import shipment such as
were found to influence the volumes and frequency
of shipments with firms opting to ship larger
shipments less frequently [19,21].
REFERENCES
Available on request
CONCLUSION
The aim of this study was to assess the trend
associations between logistics and trade. Logistics
was assessed by analyzing the trend associations of
the following variables; the logistics performance
index, time, infrastructure, connectivity and customs
procedures (for both imports and exports). Time
trends for both imports and exports were analysed
against each of the aforementioned logistics
variables. The results showed that overall imports
were growing at a faster rate than exports,
indicating issues with local economic activity and
South Africa’s increasing reliance on other
countries to provide goods. Perception regrading
logistics competency is that it is improving slightly,
but the effect is insufficient to make a real
difference to cost of importing and exporting goods
(or volumes). This is the case with most of the LPI
sub-indices analysed in this study. The results
suggest that any of improvements in competencies
are offset against fact that skills shortage in general
and in logistics in particular remains acute. Rail
connectivity through investments in rail
infrastructure has increased with, expansions of the
Gautrain and on the Sishen-Saldanha line has
increased capacity. Our findings however, show a
decrease in the rail network and this may be
associated with closure of branch lines. In general,
South African rail not providing the connectivity it
should as it is plagued by ageing infrastructure
resulting in massive inefficiencies and frequent
delays compared to road transport.
With regards to port infrastructure, expansions have
been observed on existing infrastructure. However,
the main port, Durban is congested and
improvements will still take time. Many ports
struggle with old equipment. Logistics costs are
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