Excerpt from 50 Years of Review of Maritime Transport, 1968-2018

Introduction and Editorial Overview

By UNCTAD secretariat

Established in 1964, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), published its annual Review of Maritime Transport (RMT) for the first time in 1968. RMT is part of UNCTAD's research and analytical work in the field of maritime transport aimed at helping developing countries maximize their trade and investment opportunities and increase their participation in the world economy. In October 2018, UNCTAD will publish the 50th annual edition of RMT and to celebrate this achievement it has commissioned this Special Issue, with contributions from a number of individuals.1

The Special Issue has three purposes: (1) to examine the history of RMT over the past 50 years (Chapter 2); (2) to publish contributed essays representing the views of selected experts, scholars and industry executives (Chapter 3), and (3) bearing in mind the perspective of developing countries and UNCTAD's mandate in support of developing countries' trade and development, offer a forward-looking assessment of RMT and explore some relevant thematic areas for future research and analysis (Chapter 4). Therefore, this Special Issue is divided into four substantive chapters.  

First, a history of Review of Maritime Transport is presented in Chapter 2. The Chapter recalls the raison d’être of RMT, its foundations, structure, purpose, and thematic areas. It offers a historical account of RMT, issues analysed over the years, insights gained and its main intellectual and policy contributions over the 1968–2018 period. It also highlights relevant events and milestones that have shaped the content and orientation of RMT, including political, institutional, economic and technological. Furthermore, it overlays the evolvement of RMT with the evolution of UNCTAD’s mandate and shifts in its internal structures. For those looking for an understanding of how the industry evolved over the last 50 years, Chapter 2 provides an excellent foundation for thinking about ‘What’s Next?’

Second, UNCTAD sought contributions from seven selected eminent guest essayists, chosen for their expertise and role within the industry. Their contributions presented in Chapter 3 were to answer two questions: (1) From your perspective, what do you think the future holds for the maritime transport sector in the near, medium and long term (within next 5 years, 5–19 years, 20–50 years)? (2) Are there particular issues, themes and topics that will shape maritime trade and logistics in those time frames? What does this mean for the direction of UNCTAD’s annual RMT publication? Each contributed essay has focused on what the essayist believes will be critical to address as UNCTAD contemplates the future issues of Review of Maritime Transport. Each may be read in isolation or when referred to in the text, as suits varying reading styles.

Third, a forward-facing chapter (Chapter 4) looks at changing times, and what might be expected in our uncertain future. In addition to a literature review, which explored a variety of topics, an informal opinion survey was conducted by the author, Professor Emerita Mary Brooks. Three groups of participants (selected UNCTAD secretariat staff, a number of UNCTAD collaborators and partners, and members of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME)) were invited to provide their opinions on what topics they believed would be important and relevant to discuss in the Special Issue, and what UNCTAD might expect in future in the areas of technology, regulation and future trends. While UNCTAD will continue to be guided by its mandate and respond to ongoing developments, in particular those of interest to the trade and transport of developing countries, this exercise has generated some thoughts and ideas which may be worth exploring. Chapter 4 draws on the views expressed by the respondents to the opinion survey and examines the most important and relevant topics as seen by the 22 UNCTAD secretariat staff and invited partners and collaborators, as well as the 34 opinion survey respondents from the IAME. Relevant literature to understand these topics was identified and reviewed. This literature and forward-looking studies presented in section 4.5 offer a sense of the possible futures that UNCTAD and the maritime transport community may be facing in the years to come. Sections 4.2–4.4 of this chapter focus on three key drivers in the future—technologies and the opportunities they offer, regulation and the impact it has in shaping the future world, and factors beyond business and government control. It then closes with a discussion on what existing research indicates as to the kind of future RMT could be facing.  

The last chapter (Chapter 5) draws concluding remarks and focuses on the direction Review of Maritime Transport might go in the future. This will start the thinking process about the content and scope of RMT—what is needed and what is likely to be needed as RMT addresses the trade and maritime transport challenges of the future. 

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Full text of 50 Years of Review of Maritime Transport, 1968–2018: Reflecting on the past, exploring the future