RUNNING LOGISTICS CARGO CENTRES IN THE OMAN AND ZIMBABWE: THE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND FAULT LINES. P05: RECENT ADVANCES OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

This research is about, “Running logistics cargo centres in the Oman and Zimbabwe: the key performance indicators and fault lines.” This research was aimed at uncovering brief history and best practices in logistics cargo centres with the aim of contributing to this critical debate in many countries where little research had been done in Oman and Zimbabwe. These industries employed thousands of employees in each country and had a major impact on the national economies of countries as they linked the countries with the rest of the world in trade. It was no secret that logistics cargo centres faced many challenges as they operated. Researchers used the survey questionnaire method as well as face to face interviews, expert panel interviews at universities and literature review in this research. Findings reveal that logistics cargo centres like container terminals, warehouses, bonded warehouses, dry ports, airports, roads and a modern Customs and Excise Department, which fully embraces e-government and is strategically linked to all importers and exporters as well as critical trade and related government departments have improved a lot, but still needed further improvement in Oman, Zimbabwe to march regional and global competitors for these countries. It was found that critical skills, ports, Customs, and investment infrastructure in developing countries needed to be improved as well as processing and turnaround time to match best practices in the regions and globally. One Stop Shop for investment was operational in Oman but was still in its infancy in Zimbabwe. Delayed deliveries and wrong documentation were experienced sometimes due to port and Customs delays or transport and loading delays in all two countries. Oman and Zimbabwe had improved a lot and Zimbabwe had some technical delays at its logistics cargo centres and ports of entry and exit as semi-manual systems were used, is not a complete smart system used with no papers at all as expected. A lot of work in progress is there to catch up with the rest of the world. At the time of the conference our work may still be work in progress and we will share part of the findings, the field research done in Oman which is complete. Zimbabwe field research was still ongoing as the researchers there wanted maximum outreach.