Connectivity for Caribbean Countries : An Initial Assessment

Briceno-Garmendia, Cecilia ; Bofinger, Heinrich C. ; Cubas, Diana ; Millan-Placci, Maria Florencia

World Bank Group, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESSIBILITY;    AIM;    AIR;    AIR CARGO;    AIR FREIGHT;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7169
RP-ID  :  WPS7169

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Every discussion of the Caribbean statesconsiders their characteristics as sea-locked countries,small economies, highly vulnerable to natural disasters, anda geographic platform that calls for regional cooperationand integration. The Caribbean Sea is the most importantvehicle and the most challenging obstacle Caribbeancountries have to connect with the world. This reportmeasures and analyzes the Caribbean region's air andmaritime connectivity, by taking a sample of 15 countriesthat represent 64 percent of the Caribbean population and 59percent of the region's gross domestic product. Thereport finds that the most salient issue of Caribbeanlogistics is the huge costs associated with trade, driven byembedded inefficiencies in customs systems and documentpreparation processes. The report also documents how theCaribbean air transport network is characterized by fiercecompetition between the islands for tourists from abroad,rather than coordinated efforts to promote Caribbeantourism. This has led to suboptimal routing based ondistorting subsidy schemes with often unstainable volumesand load factors, raising questions about the sustainabilityof many of the extra-Caribbean routes, and indicating a needfor route consolidation. Air connectivity within and amongCaribbean states is poor and represents an opportunity todevelop alternative and more competitive private sector-ledservices such as inter-island ferries and low-cost airshuttle services. Maritime connectivity for freight is wellstructured around two coexisting and functionalhub-and-spoke systems (intra-regional with a hub in Trinidadand extra-regional with a hub in the Miami area) thateffectively serve all the Caribbean countries. Yet, tariffsare high by worldwide standards and are likely driven byhigh market concentration in a handful of shipping liners.