THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT IN FOREIGN TRADE REALIZATION

Abstract

The transportation costs comprise the basic share of the total costs in international tradeand highly influence the prices of goods. In a great number of cases, the trading considerations require transportation costs higher than the value of goods. The increasing trade flows and the aim to cut the delivery terms which aids the flexibility of the different companiesare pressing demands over the modes of the international transport. The economic efficiency could be raised through increasing of the competitive advantages. Besides, the international labor specialization, the access to a greater variety of material and non-material products allowing more efficient production decisions, economies of scope and scale, etc. bring forward substantial requirements towards the new transport technologies and the modes of the international transport as a whole. Another tendency brings forward the increased pollution of the environment due to the high share of the road transport and air transport at short and medium distances. On the other hand, the high competitiveness of the road transport at short and medium distances presents a good reason for the consumer choice, hence according to the statistical data, it is the most widely applied in the realizationof Bulgarian foreign trade. Another reason is that the partners from EU form a dominant share in the foreign trade of Bulgaria. The higher prices of transport by air are still limiting its applicationin the cargo exchange, in comparison to the land transport.There are still options and opportunities for increasing the role of maritime transport and transport by inner waterways.