INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND LOGISTICS PERFORMANCE: A RESEARCH ON BRICS COUNTRIES

Abstract

The importance attached to the logistics sector with the increase in the global trade volume has increased over the years due to the impact of the countries on their national economies and the contribution of the increasing trade volumes to the competitiveness level. It is observed that countries with high Logistics Performance Index, which provide information about the basic logistics processes of the countries and the logistics infrastructure, have high commercial volumes. In addition, it is claimed that the countries that determine their steps in this direction by taking into consideration the criteria specified in the Logistics Performance Index prepared by the World Bank in this direction will also gain the competitive advantage in international trade. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between logistics performance and foreign trade volumes of countries in terms of BRICS countries, which are among the emerging economies and are getting more and more shares from the global trade volume. With the combination of the initials of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa countries, this economic unity, which is called BRICS, has made great investments in the field of logistics in recent years and has started to have a say in this field. Within the scope of the research, it is aimed to obtain national economic data of these countries and evaluate them comparatively. In the process of obtaining the data, the reports published by the official institutions of the countries included in the research will be used. As a result of the research, it is seen that BRICS countries, which are successful in terms of their economic levels and export figures, have not yet achieved the same success in terms of logistics performance criteria.