Industrialized nations may lose infrastructure edge

Over the next 20 years, industrialized nations could lose their current edge in transportation and logistics infrastructure. Accordingly, providers of logistics and transportation services should be prepared to operate in a world with inadequate infrastructure.

That assessment appears in "Transportation and Logistics 2030, Vol. II," a report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Supply Chain Management Institute at the European Business School. For the report, researchers surveyed 104 subject-matter experts from 29 countries on transportation and logistics infrastructure.

Although wealthier nations will be hard-pressed to keep up with burgeoning movements of both freight and people, it is unlikely that they will spend enough on infrastructure to maintain their advantage in this area, the report says. In fact, 41 percent of the experts surveyed said that industrialized countries would probably lose their infrastructure advantage over emerging economies by 2030. Developing countries will need to spend about US $465 billion annually on infrastructure if they are to catch up to the developed nations.

The report advises logistics and transportation companies to use scenario planning to analyze and forecast infrastructure impediments to moving goods. Carriers were also advised to assess a government's willingness to invest in infrastructure upgrades when deciding to enter a new market. The full report can be downloaded here.