Global trade needs a reset – Dubai and World Logistics Passport show how it can be done

What does the World Logistics Passport do? If you are freight forwarder or a business sending or expecting consignments anywhere in the world, ‘having’ the Passport is your guarantee get it done – at a reduced cost and faster than is the current norm.

Because this initiative, with Dubai playing a central role, is about creating alternative routes to make that promise of faster and less costly movement of goods a reality.

The World Logistics Passport is thinking big – to be responsible for 50 per cent of the global trade flows to be routed through its network in the medium-term. Ambitious? For sure. No such thing as half measures.

The hard assets connecting the world’s busiest routes are already there – the mammoth ports and container handling terminals, many of them updated with the latest that technology can provide. It’s making even better use of these existing assets that the WLP is on the lookout for.

Because the ports and terminals are already in place, there’s no need to build anew. The WLP with each passing week is bringing in new partners, whether as countries – Brazil, India and Vietnam being among the 23 that has signed up to date – or as key partners, such as the New Delhi International Airport and Malaysia’s Johor Port.

Let no one think this is an all-sea affair. Yes, the bulk of the global trade movements happen out on the oceans. But the WLP offers members flexibility – goods can get shipped in from the Far East to Dubai and depending on requirements can take to the air for the final leg to the destination.

“The WLP can offer that kind of flexibility, that choice of sea-air transportation,” said Mike Bhaskaran, the man overseeing the rollout of the programme. “The best part is that anyone in any country can join in – and it’s free.”

Membership will be based on meeting certain criteria, and it’s a cert that the world’s freight forwarders will be among the first to sign up. But there’s room for the big movers, whether that’s a “UPS, LG or Amazon”.

“Government agencies and governments too will play a part in WLP,” says Bhaskaran. “Any entity that can benefit from the smoother flow of goods across cross-border networks is free to join.”

A 5-10 per cent boost in trade flows down the line – that’s the promise WLP is giving to countries signing up.

Eventually, the WLP is about a global footprint. Whether it’s a port in the Far East that’s the point of origin and another somewhere in Latin America being the end destination, the Passport has it covered.

So, is WLP more about emerging market trade movements than one involving developed economies as well? Mike Bhaskaran is having none of that: “The Passport is about ensuring trade happens and goods get delivered anywhere in the world, whether that’s for clients in Europe or for those in Latin America.”

The pandemic and the more recent Suze Canal blockage have shown that global trade routes could do with some changes here and a few tweaks there. Above, Vancouver port.

If the World Logistics Passport can provide all that, Dubai can be at the centre of this transformation. Above, Chabang terminal.