Specialized aspects of international logistics -- country and regional issues

Choose a country you are familiar with, not the United States. For that country, answer briefly the following questions.

1. What are the rough dimensions of the country in miles?

2. What is the population? What percentage live in the 3 largest cities?

3. What is the predominant language? How widely used is English in business?

4. In the last three years have there been any instances of political instability?

5. What is the currency? What is the exchange rate to US dollars? How has it changed in the past two years?

6. What time zones exist in this country? What time is it in the capital when it is noon in Cambridge, MA?

7. What unique requirements exist for products sold in this country? (e.g. testing, packaging, language, safety, etc.)

8. What regulations or limitations exist regarding freight transport?

9. Are there saltwater ports which can handle large ships? How far are the major population centers from those ports?

10. What business terms and financial instruments are typically used for import commercial transactions?

11. How large is a typical supermarket or retail food store (square feet or meters)?

12. Do any of the large US discount retailers (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Toys ‘R Us) have stores in this country?

13. Describe the highway and rail infrastructure. Are the: extensive, moderate, or primitive nationwide?

14. How bad is the traffic congestion in the major cities?

15. Which countries are the primary trading partners? For each partner, in which direction is the balance of trade (import or export)?

16. Is security an issue in logistics? Why?

17. How reliable is the phone system? How long for a consumer to get a phone line installed? How extensive is the mobile phone network?

18. How many people have internet access?

19. What is the price of regular gasoline, $ per gallon?

20. What trade restrictions exist? What are the highest import duties – which products and countries of origin? What embargoes exist, if any?

21. What customs documents are required for an import shipment? For export?

22. How common is “bribery” (US definition) in trade transactions? (normal, infrequent, very rare). What are the legal ramifications?

23. How strong are the unions? In what industries are they an important factor? Are they predominantly national or local? What impact do they have on logistics?