The role of infrastructure in growing exports or in the collapse of our manufacturing sector

t is self-evident that in order to export, you need to have a way to get the stuff out of your country. The point where things leave the country is called a port and ours are broken. Our airports are ok, but our seaports, where the big volumes move, are not working very well. They’re also very expensive, both absolutely and also in relative terms to just about everyone else in the world. But its not only the ports which need to function. The roads and railway lines also need to work, partly because they get the stuff to the ports, but also because sometimes things are exported by road or rail. These also are in bad shape. All of this doesn’t address the most important part of our infrastructure. Energy. If you don’t have energy then you can’t build or fix roads or ports and you can’t make anything competitively. Investors prefer to invest in countries that have working infrastructure because they are more competitive in those countries and the shareholders of companies are quite picky about competitiveness. So poor infrastructure equals poor levels of investment.

The role of infrastructure in growing exports or in the collapse of our manufacturing sector – XA Global Trade Advisors (xagta.com)