The Corridor Management Committee (CMC) brings together representatives of the key government agencies and private users from all corridor countries to identify obstacles to corridor performance and to find ways to solve them. It includes the ports, the logistics operators, road users and the border agencies.
Generally, the drivers of improvement are the ports (which must compete with other ports for traffic), the shippers who need fast, reliable service at the lowest price, the logistics companies that handle the arrangements for shippers on the corridor, and the road transporters who are directly affected by the operating problems on the Corridor.
Government agencies need Corridor Management Committees (CMCs) to streamline their regulatory efforts and to achieve their economic and social goals. CMCs bring together all countries on a corridor to seek infrastructure improvement, harmonization of documentation and a commitment to better transport and logistics performance. Rather than seeing corridors as a chain of controls, CMCs seek to insure operators' ease of transit in exchange for compliance. Successful penetration of the global market requires low cost, speed and reliability/predictability and CMCs seek to foster the measures to achieve these goals.
Effective CMCs have been instituted in a number of geographic regions. A summary of lessons learned for effective use of the corridor approach follows:
- The CMC must have strong drivers with a vested interest in change.
- The structure and operations must reinforce the ability of each group to attain results for their efforts.
- The agenda must respond to the direct needs of the Corridor. The Committee must set timelines and task responsibilities for achieving results. Results should be documented to maintain the commitment of government and the private sector.
- A strong public private partnership is most likely to achieve results. The private sector provides the motivation, energy and impatience. Senior government officials need to sustain the perception of facilitation as a high priority so that the hard work of change is undertaken. The government provides the means to change the operating requirements and controls, the private sector provides the means to improve transport operations.
- The CMC provides the venue for solutions rather than an adversarial environment for government and business.
- CMCs are an excellent resource for piloting new approaches that, once refined, can be rolled out to other corridors.
- CMCs need Secretariats to coordinate implementation between meetings and to provide communication on what is being undertaken by the CMC and other initiatives on the Corridor.
- It takes time to form a CMC and finalize the legal framework. An interim committee can begin the work plan while the final approvals are implemented. Funding and technical support during the start up phase are important until the CMC can demonstrate its value and organize a sustainable means of financing its efforts.
- Once the transport CMC is introduced, this route should be explored for the development corridor approach.
For additional information, see the related pages listed in the side panel.