Recommend self-assessment or fast-track import procedures involving customs

252 time can help to expand the exports of these time-sensitive products by more than four per cent. This is important for countries which are developing economies and highly reliant on food as their source of income. Likewise, for countries that are dependent on food for sustenance, it is also critical to ensure timely connectivity so that consumers do not have to bear the burden of unnecessary wastages and factor- production inefficiencies along the chain. In this regard, when one speaks of connectivity, the usual reference is to infrastructure. Serifica et al., 2009 embrace a deeper notion of connectivity and its relation to logistics performance. Infrastructure can be hard or soft, and it has its own degree of criticality depending on where it is located along the supply chain. For this purpose, we will highlight the sort of infrastructure, behind the border, at the border and immediately beyond the border. 10.6. Challenges to connectivity in Asia Typically, when one refers to hard infrastructure, it usually pertains to the assets of high fixed cost such as large distribution warehouses and ports to store, buffer or transhipped stock to manage any supply or demand uncertainty. At the border, this can represent seaports and airports such as in many Asian countries. However, this physical infrastructure may require significant public-funding support and warrant some private-public partnership arrangements. For the less-developed countries, this presents a challenge. In addition, connectivity at the border also includes other assetized equipment such as gantry cranes for terminal handling at the port, airfreight handling equipment including different temperature-control regimes ranging from -28C to 18C, and joint container pallet loaders. Beyond the border, this could take the form of traditional container freight stations where cargo needs to be de-bulked and on-shipped to its final destination. Some of the infrastructure requires heavy commitment and development cost that poorer countries find difficult to afford. All this equipment naturally carries a cost. For physical infrastructure, determining the right amount and right type of facilities to be used as for ambient versus cool temperature and locating them at the right place is important to serve business and trade. Regarding soft infrastructure, there is a mix of public and private sector collaboration in some Asian countries to ensure smooth supply chain connectivity. One prime example is that of the “National Single Window” which is supposed to reduce unnecessary dwell time at the border and expedite cargo clearance through