Global Trade and The Transportation Industry
If we examine the different dimensions of development, we find that all economic activities from the beginning to the time of operation have been somehow related to the issue of transportation. In fact, it can be said that since the beginning of the 20th century, the revolution in the transportation industry has been a complement to the industrial revolution of the 18th century and the dynamic factor of the world society to its current level. In this article you will find the following topics:
- Importance of world trade
- Communication of global trade and transportation industry
- What do the statistics say?
- Share of export of raw materials in developing regions
- Iran’s share in the export of raw materials
- Features of the countries at the top of the international trade list
Importance of World Trade
In the simplest definition, international trade is defined as the process of trading goods and products between two or more foreign markets. Obviously, suppose the production activities in the form of a regular, coordinated, and planned system do not reach the stage of action in accordance with the necessary priority and delay. In that case, it will eventually lead to the disruption of the entire economic complex.
Therefore, it is required that all activities should be considered systematically, that is, in accordance with the role and impact of each of them in the whole complex. Because dealing independently with the components of a system, regardless of the relationship and mutual influence of the components with each other, will result in abnormality in performance and slowness in the progress of activities.
Communication of Global Trade and Transportation Industry
In relation to the transportation industry and its connection with world trade, it can be said that if the transportation fleet and the infrastructure facilities required for it are not considered in accordance with the development of other sectors, it will create slowness and insufficiency in the circulation of the wheels of the economy. be made This coordination should take place in all development matters such as planning, policy-making, investment, etc. so that the global economy can achieve its projected growth every year.
What Do the Statistics Say?
According to the available statistics, the total volume of global trade in goods and services between 1985 and 2007 reached an unprecedented figure of 34.569 trillion dollars from 3.940 trillion dollars. Note that the global financial crisis in 2008 reduced this figure to 33.830 trillion dollars.
From the above figure, the developed countries of the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America together have about 66% of the world’s trade.
On the other hand, the share of 34 major countries in the world is in order of activity in export (more than 100 million dollars in 2007) and import of global goods and services. Among all countries that produce raw materials, only Saudi Arabia is included in the list of countries that export goods and import services. Due to the high volume of oil production and export, high income, and low population.
In the past few years, developing countries have increased their share in global production compared to previous years. So these countries still had a small fraction of the total global yield.
Share of Export of Raw Materials in Developing Regions
The regional division of world trade indicates that the share of exports of raw materials in growing regions includes:
- Asia
- Middle East
- Africa
- Latin America
It has been more than two-thirds of their total business. In a sample survey of 91 developing countries, in 67 countries the share of export of raw materials was more than 50% and in some cases, it reached 95%. This clearly reveals the vulnerability of the single-product economy and its dependence on the export of raw materials.
Iran’s Share in the Export of Raw Materials
Although Iran is the fourth oil producer in the world (EIA report 2008), it ranks 80th in the production of petrochemical products. (quotation from the Chairman of the Majlis Energy Commission, Hamshahri 5.10.1386)
According to the statistics of the reliable publication Oil & Gas Journal, on January 1, 2007, Iran’s proven oil reserves were more than 136 billion barrels or almost 10% of the world’s total proven reserves. Iran has 40 main production wells, 27 basins on land and 13 basins on the continental plateau, with the maximum concentration in the southwest of the country, especially in Esan Khuzestan and near the Iraqi border. In terms of sulfur content, Iranian oil is mostly average. Iran is the fourth oil producer in the world and the second producer of OPEC. The country’s maximum production capacity is 4.2 million barrels per day, equivalent to 5% of the world’s total production.
Features of the Countries at the Top of the International Trade List
The countries with the highest share in world trade were also the largest providers of commercial services (including the transportation industry). In other words, economic development has been synonymous with the development of the transportation sector. Considering the role and importance of transportation in the economic development of society, the necessity of its quantitative and qualitative expansion through more investment and conducting research, and applying scientific methods in order to improve and achieve a coordinated, fast, reliable, cheap, and flexible system is avoided. It is inevitable.
Conclusion
In this way, we saw that international trade not only leads to increased production but also allows countries to participate in the global economy. Note that in today’s economy, one of the main measures of the economic power of countries is considered to be the gross national product index and the trade balance of the countries. For this reason, economy and export-oriented production play a key role in improving these indicators.