Country ranked 86th out of 138 economies evaluated by the World Economic Forum in a report on “facilitation” of international trade
São Paulo – Under the leadership of Brazilian Roberto Azevêdo, the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the end of last year signed its first trade agreement in a generation.
In addition to being able to inject up to 1 trillion dollars into the world economy, estimates the organization, the “Bali package” recommends measures to oil international trade.
It is in this scenario that the World Economic Forum releases the 2014 edition of its “Enabling Trade Report”.
Published every two years, it measures how each country facilitates or complicates international trade – either through greater or lesser openness (through tariffs, for example) – or in a practical way, through infrastructure and logistics.
Four factors are taken into account: market access, border management, infrastructure and operations environment. 138 economies responsible for 98,8% of world GDP were assessed.
Ranking
Singapore leads the ranking, followed by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Finland. Of the 20 countries in first place, 17 are advanced economies, but Chile stands out in 8th place.
Brazil ranked 86th, behind countries such as Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, Namibia and Azerbaijan.
In terms of market access, we ranked 110th – ahead of Japan, China and Russia.
In the efficiency and transparency of border management, the country ranks 80th. Our best position is 60th in the infrastructure ranking.
According to the report, Brazil's performance leaves a lot of room for improvement: access to markets is lower than the South American average and the infrastructure is of poor quality and fails to integrate the different means of transport.
They point out that the use of information technology is one of the country's competitive advantages, but that the “operating environment continues to be characterized by high levels of corruption and complicated government regulations.”
The WTO estimates that facilitating international trade would increase Brazil's GDP by 0,37% by 2020.
In the list of the most problematic factors for those who want to export, the item “high costs and delays caused by domestic transport” leads by far. Then comes “access to imported inputs at competitive prices” and “inappropriate production skills and technology”.
Among the most problematic factors for those who want to import, the answers “tariffs”, “heavy import procedures” and “the high cost and delays caused by domestic transport” share the leadership.
Joao Pedro Caleiro
Source: Exam
