Thailand, theonly tw~routesopenarethrough theLaoriverportofThanaleng and trans-shipment point No~gKhai,Thailand, andthrough theriverportofSavannakhet andthetrans-shipment poi~tatMukdahan, Thailand. FromtheThaitrans-Ihipment pointgoodsmaybetakenbytruckortraintotheport.Theport,highway and railway infrastructure withinThailand isofveryhighquality, buttheriver crossing andtrans-shipment pointsareamajorcauseofproblems onthisroute. Transit through theVietnamese portofDanangisassuming increased importance for theimportandexportofLaogovernment goodsl noprivate commercial traffic is permitted tousetheroute. Theprimary benefit totheLaoPeople'. Democratic Republic ofhavinganalternative accesstotheseathrough Viethdmisthe prospect itoffersforreducing dependence ontheoneprevious corridor through Thailand. Furthermore, theroutetoVietNamisparticularly relevant forthe trans',t-transport ofgoodstoandfromtheeastern markets ofJapanandtheeastern seaportsoftheUnionofSovietSocialist Republics. Especially nowthatJapanese shopsareserving Denang, thisrouteoffersarealalternative toBangkok. The portofDanangoffersgoodoperations andatransit warehouse, which,although Bome distance fromtheport,isunderLaocontrol. Thereappeartobenoprocedural problems ~iththetransit ofLaogoodsthroughvietNam.Mostimportantly, Lao truckscancarrygoodstoorfromthep~rtwithout trena-shipment. 24.Bhutan'o mai~accesstoseeisthrough theportofCalcutta inIndia. Owing tothedominance oftradewithIndia,however, transittraffic isrelatively small. Thetransit arrangements withIndiahaveintroduced highlysimpl.ified procedures fortransittraffic. Goodsaremovedtoandfromtheport overwhelmingly byroadwithIndiancarriers dominating thehaulage industry. An alternative transit routeisthrough IndiaintoBangladesh utilizing Bangladesh's transportation andportfacilities. 25.Nepal's maintransit countlyisIndia. Accesstotheseaisprovided bythe IndianportofCalcutta andtheadjacent newportofHaldiaandalsobycrossing IndiatoBangladesh wheretheportsofChittagong andChalna/Khulna maybeused. The1978TreatyofTransit withIlldiaspecifies thatNepalese imports andexports passing through Indiafromthirdcountries mustusetheportofCalcutta •.The delaysinthemovement oftransit carqoisduelargely tothefactthatgoods carried byrailtoNepalhavetobetrans-shipped frombroadgaugetor~tregauge railways. Customs procedures attheNepalborderalsoneedtobestreamlined. The TreatywithIndiahasrecently expired. TheexpiryoftheTreatyandthedelayin agreeing onanewonehasgivenriseto.eriou.transitdifficultie., which,in turn,havesparked offacuteshortages ofessential supplies. I •••A/44/588 E~'1glish Page14 26.ThebulkofMongolia's transit cargo1&movedbyrailthrough theSovietports ofNakhodka andLeningrad. Thetransit routeviathetrans-S! !rianrailway tothe portofNakhodka maintains aregular traffic. ThecargotoEopeancountries is movedallthewaybyrail.rorgoodsdestined forWestern EU~OPA, wagons haveto beexchanged atthosestations wherethebroadgaugerailways ofEastEuropean countries connect withthenormalgaugeofWestern Europe. F.LatinAmerica 27.PortsontheAtlant;c andPacific oceansconstitute themainoutlets for Bolivia's foreign tradewithcountries outside SouthAmerica. Thebul~ofthe commodities aremovedthrough thefollowing sixportsl SantosinBrazil, Rosario andBuenosAiresinArgentina, AricaandAntofagasta inChileandMatarani in Peru.Over58percentofBolivia's exports andimports passthrough thePa~ific ports. Thegreatbulkofcargomovesbyrail,partlybecause oftheqeneral unreliability ofroadtransport andpartly owingtothedefinite advantages rail offers ()nsuchlonghauls. TheeY!sting linkstoeachoftheportscanbe describod briefly asfolloWSI (a)Santosl Sincethereisatpresent onlyverypoorroadaccess fromSanta CruztotheBrazilian border, mostBolivian traffic toandfromSantos andother Brazilian citiesuse.therailway. ~henorthern townsofCobija, Guayaramerin and Riberalta aredirectly connected totheB.'azilian roadsystem andtherearesome imports bytruckfromSaoPauloandSantosl (b)Rosario andBuenosAiresl Roadtransport takesplaceallthewayfrom Tarija t~theseportsbutisrelatively costly. Therearegoodrailconnections through V~llazon andYacuiba, makingrailthepreferred modeoftransport toand fromtheArgentinian portsl (c)AntofAgAstal Accessisalmostimpossible byroadandonlyabout260of the1,214kilometres fromLAPazarepaved. Goodservice isprovided bythe Antofagasta Railway, whichcarries nearlyallthecargomovingthrough thisportl (d)Arical Accessispossible bybothroadandrail,although only 160kilometres oftheS81-kilometre roadfromLaPazarepaved. Therailway service ispoor,owingtothepoorstateofthetrackonbothsidesoftheborder,
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the transportation and logistics of goods and cargo between various countries, including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Nepal, Mongolia, and Bolivia. It highlights the challenges and advantages of different transportation routes and modes, such as rail, road, and sea. The text also touches on the importance of transit points and ports, as well as the need for streamlined customs procedures.

**Category**
Transport and communication, International trade