Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:
Challenges, Cases and Policy Lessons
2
 With a population of more than 1.7 billion, OIC Member States account for more than 23% of world
population. OIC countries have a relatively high and growing market potential. Much of the increase
in the market potential of OIC countries is also due to the increase in intra-OIC market potential;
 The OIC transport corridors are characterized by many non-physical barriers, such as unofficial
payments (corruption) and cumbersome border crossing. Low intra trade also characterizes the
OIC transport corridors. The average is less than 10% of the total trade, while this figure is 50-60%
in the EU where many successful transport corridors are situated.
The above shows the potential for trade and transport facilitation and corridor development in OIC
member countries, as well as (some of) the constraints.
Governance is a critical success factor for developing transport corridors and facilitating trade and
transport. The above-mentioned combination of hard and soft measures is directly linked to corridor
governance. The complexity of corridor governance, with specific functions and domains, is addressed
in the next chapter, together with the link between transport corridors and governance.
Corridor governance has multiple interrelated domains
Corridor governance is complex, involving various aspects such as legal and institutional maters, as
well as multiple stakeholders, often involving various countries. Literature addresses various elements
of corridor governance, although no comprehensive integrated conceptual framework is available.
We have used various elements presented in literature to develop a conceptual framework for corridor
governance. The foundation has been established by applying the corridor management activities, as
defined by Arnold (2006): planning, financing, legislation, regulation, operation, monitoring and
promotion. Additional elements from literature on corridor governance (as presented in Annex 1) and
empirical accounts from existing corridors, have been applied to define seven interrelated corridor
governance domains, jointly forming the corridor conceptual governance framework. Figure ES1
presents the elements of the conceptual framework, illustrating that the corridor objectives and
political support are at the heart of the framework and an additional six governance domains are
defined.
Figure ES 1 Transport governance conceptual framework
Corridor objectives
and political support
Legal framework
Institutional framework
Infrastructure: financing,
planning and
programming
Corridor promotion and
stakeholder consultation
Corridor performance
monitoring and
dissemination
Capacity building:
technical assistance and
studies
Source: consortium.