Under BIMSTEC-TILS, a study on the transport infrastructure and logistics will be undertaken to promote interregional integration by increasing trade and travel among the BIMSTEC countries. More specifically, the TA's expected outcomes will be to enhance transport infrastructure, improve logistics, and reduce transport time and costs.

Transport & Trade Facilitation

• Flow chart the typical (international best-practice) procedures and information flows involved in clearing and forwarding cargo by air, land and sea and the use of IT systems and EDIs to expedite these procedures in main se ports, air ports, and land crossings;
• ii) Identify significant deviations in BIMSTEC countries from the standards followed by transport providers (airlines, shipping lines, truckers etc) and their implications in terms of cost, time, trade competitiveness etc.;
• Review work related to transport and trade facilitation undertaken by other international agencies, such as UNESCAP, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and the Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia (TRACECA);
• Identify critical sanitary and photo-sanitary measures and technical standards available to the BIMSTEC countries, and assess their implications on transport and goods among the countries;
• Identify critical transport and transit agreements, including labor laws that govern movement of goods among BIMSTEC countries and agreement not yet in place;
• Evaluate the direct impact of those standard agreements and protocols, including missing agreements and protocols in the BIMSTEC region on transport costs and their implications on trade;
• Develop strategies that could lower transport costs and improve efficiency of trade flows such changing surface vehicle inspection and testing procedures, weights and dimensions, and driving licensing; propose and framework for implementing those strategies as well as training materials;
• viii) Provide write-ups and input as needed for the reports prepared by the Team Leader.

Trade Analysis

• Assess recent trade patterns and volumes, categorized by major commodity type, origin and destination (actual in country), and mode of transport;
• Review trade forecasts and the underlying modelling techniques used in recent studies in the region and in the BIMSTEC countries, and determine whether those technique and forecasts are relevant for BTILS;
• Use the above data and/or models, or better techniques, to predict short and medium term trade volumes of major commodities among the BIMSTEC countries under different scenarios and assumptions;
• Evaluate the implications of unmet transport demand on trade among the BIMSTEC countries under different scenarios of infrastructure investment and logistics development;
• ogether with other team members, evaluate and prioritize strategies to improve transport infrastructure and services, taking into account the likelihood and expected benefits of such strategies; and vi) Provide input as necessary, both verbally and in writing, to the various team members.