Evaluating the Logistics Performance of One Belt One Road Project Countries with Multi Criteria Decision Making Methods

Logistics is significant for national governments to evaluate the activities, functions and elements of the existing country-level logistics system to develop competitive advantage. The Logistics Performance Index (LPI) is one of the most reliable reports used to evaluate logistics performance at the country level. In this study, a new hybrid model using the SIWEC, CRITIC, LOPCOW and MACONT methods from the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods is proposed to measure the logistics performance of the countries located in the northern, southern and central corridors of the One Belt, One Road Project (OBORP) connecting Asia to Europe. SIWEC, CRITIC, and LOPCOW methods were used to calculate the objective weights of the criteria for each corridor. The MACONT method was employed to rank the countries based on their logistics performance for each corridor. According to the combined criteria weights, the most important criterion in the northern corridor was international shipping, while the least crucial criterion was customs. The most crucial criterion in the southern corridor was customs, while the least crucial criterion was tracking and tracing. In the middle corridor, the most crucial criterion was tracking and tracing, while the least crucial criterion was logistics quality and competence. Owing to the analysis made with the MACONT method, Germany was the country that showed the best logistics performance in all three corridors. The results obtained for each corridor using the decision-making approach offered in the study were compared with other alternative assessment methods such as MARA, ARAS, COPRAS, GIA, EDAS and OCRA to ensure the validity and robustness of the findings. Based on the comparison, it was observed that the results obtained for each corridor were quite similar, and the proposed approach gave consistent results.