Transportation routes evaluation: A delphi and CFPR approach

Abstract

In 2020, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) initiated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was officially signed; the RCEP is the largest free trade agreement in the world. As both Vietnam and China are important member countries of this agreement, the close trade cooperation that exists between Vietnam and China has important economic and political implications, and its development has been further improved by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The vast majority of this trade is done through intermodal container transport, so efficient multimodal container transport has become necessary to enable cross-border trade. With the rapid development of China’s transportation infrastructure, Chongqing has become an emerging logistics hub in inland China. Hai Phong is the largest port city in Vietnam, and it has extensive multimodal transport infrastructure. In this paper, we scientifically evaluate the competing routes for the multimodal container transport supporting China-Vietnam trade, analyse eight transport routes from Chongqing to Hai Phong, and evaluate these routes with the Delphi and CFPR methods. This study can inform Chinese and Vietnamese trade enterprises in terms of selecting their preferred multimodal transport route strategies and the governmental authorities of both countries in making management decisions.