Inland navigation and a more sustainable use of natural resources: networks, challenges and opportunities for South America

En esta edición del Boletín FAL se examinan una serie de desafíos y posibilidades relativos al desarrollo de las vías de navegación interior en América del Sur. El examen se centra principalmente en los retos normativos y de financiamiento de las actividades encaminadas a desarrollar las vías de navegación interior de modo que lleguen a desempeñar un papel fundamental en un sistema de transporte más sostenible en el futuro.…

Concentration in liner shipping: its causes and impacts for ports and shipping services in developing regions

Abstract Concentration in liner shipping means that relatively larger shipping companies are increasing their market share at the expense of the remaining smaller players. Although this process is not new, it has gained strength and is particularly affecting ports and shipping services in developing regions. Because trade is growing as a proportion of world GDP, governments and international organizations attach an increasing priority to improving ports and shipping services. This leads to deregulation, which, together with technological advances, increases the incentives for shipping companie…

Towards a demand model for maritime passenger transportation in the Caribbean: a regional study of passenger ferry services

In this paper, the main factors that influence the demand for maritime passenger transportation in the Caribbean were studied. While maritime studies in the Caribbean have focused on infrastructural and operational systems for intensifying trade and movement of goods, there is little information on the movement of persons within the region and its potential to encourage further integration and sustainable development. Data to inform studies and policies in this area are particularly difficult to source. For this study, an unbalanced data set for the 2000-2014 period in 15 destinations with a f…

Bridging infrastructural gaps in Central America: prospects and potential for maritime transport

Abstract Central America needs a regular, flexible, safe and affordable infrastructure and transport services in order to prevail over the existing bottlenecks and constrained intra-regional trade patterns. This need is widely recognized to achieve a sustained economic development, both national and regionally. Today, Central American countries face the following problems in their transport systems: lack of sufficient transport infrastructure and high transport costs. These problems have led to a decline in the competitiveness of the regional economies and sluggish economic growth …

The potential for hub ports on the Pacific coast of South America

The external trade of a country is closely linked with its geographical location, with the transport services that cover the distance to markets, and the ports through which that trade passes. Recent advances in maritime transport, the growing international economic integration, and the privatization of ports in the countries on the Pacific coast of South America have given rise to expectations that ports could be developed that concentrate both domestic cargo and that of neighbouring countries for its subsequent redistribution: what are known as hub ports . The main conclusion of t…

Report on maritime transport and the environment for Latin America

This report presents information on the environmental impact of vessels during their general operation. It is shown that the emissions from vessels can substantially contribute to local air quality problems over land and also impact the climate change process. Up to now, the contribution of the maritime sector to air quality problems in Latin American and Caribbean coastal cities has received little or no attention. Studies for the United States and Europe show that the contribution of this sector may however be significant. Given the persistence of air quality problems in Latin America, it ap…

SIDS 4: Now or never for small island survival

Primer Foro Latinoamericano de Infraestructura

El pasado 26 y 27 de junio del 2018, se desarrolló en Santiago el Primer Foro Latinoamericano de Infraestructura que contó con la presencia de los ministros de Obras Públicas de Chile, Juan Andrés Fontaine, de Paraguay, Ramón Jiménez, de los ministros de Chile de Vivienda, Cristián Monckeberg y de Transporte y Telecomunicaciones. Sra. Gloria Hutt, además de autoridades, académicos y empresarios vinculados al sector, funcionarios del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) y de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). El evento fue organizado por el Consejo de Políticas d…