"This special commemorative issue is timely and auspicious as the 50th anniversary is taking place at the intersection of several developments. The anniversary coincides with the world community committing to achieving a sustainable development path, a climate-friendly world and prosperity for all. It also coincides with early stages of the Fourth Industrial revolution driven by digitalization, with its myriad of challenges and opportunities. It is also taking place at a time of growing trade policy risks that could undermine a multilateral rule-based trading system and dampen the demand for maritime transport, which handles over 80 per cent of world trade volumes. Together, these new realities underscore the imperative for UNCTAD to reflect on how best the Review can continue to report on relevant developments and generate useful insights and requisite data that underpin evidence-based maritime transport policy-making. I am confident that this Special Issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Review will help initiate a collective thinking process and start the debate among all stakeholders and users of this UNCTAD publication, in particular governments, industry and academia, about its future. This reflection will help ascertain ways in which, in an ever-changing world, the Review can continue to effectively respond to developing countries' needs for a level playing field in maritime transport that also promotes sustainable development objectives." -- author website

86 p. : ill., graphs, maps, tables