ADEQUACY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY IN NORTH INDIA - IMPLICATION FOR EXPORT PERFORMANCE

The Port of Manila, the largest seaport in the country, has been recognized as the most widely used port in the Greater Capital Region with utilization rate of 71.6% compared to only 2.3% and 6.1% utilization of Batangas and Subic Ports, respectively (NEDA, 2012). The ports of Batangas and Subic were developed in order to accommodate excess traffic in the port of Manila and promote growth and development in CALABARZON and Central Luzon. However, port users still opt to operate in Manila Port. This leads to the congestion of Manila Port and the underutilization of the other two ports in the Greater Capital Region. The situation was intensified during the implementation of the recently lifted Manila truck ban. The study recognizes that issues and problems still persist in the logistics sector even after the regulation was put off. While there are many different institutions in place to regulate logistic market, they are not able enough to eliminate syndicate or carteling particularly in road transport. Nepal has bilateral agreements related to trade logistics with India, Bangladesh and China. Also it is a member of SAFTA, BIMSTEC and WTO. Different provisions of these bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements provide scope for Nepal's export promotion through logistic development. Women participation in export and related logistic business was also examined as part of the study. It is found to be low mainly because of lack of exposure, orientation and skill of entrepreneurship, social environment, uncertainty in property inheritance right, and level of technological know-how. Ultimately, the study provides an extensive list of short, medium and long-term measures to decongest Manila Port and to address the underutilization of Batangas and Subic Ports. The list is complemented with a dynamic timeline of the proposed measures and actions with their corresponding implementing agencies