With the newly widened Panama Canal due to open in 2015, ports on the east coast of the US are jostling for position to ensure that they can cash in on the post-Panamax ships that will be able to access them. But with competition so fierce, and their west coast counterparts also upping their game, no clear front-runner has yet emerged.

The beautiful landscape of the southern Italian region of Calabria helps to mask an area with high crime and unemployment levels. And now its one salvation of recent years – the once-thriving port of Gioia Tauro – is struggling to compete against lower cost competitors elsewhere on the Mediterranean. 

Renewed investment in infrastructure in the Middle East and north Africa region is boosting inwards investment in the logistics sector. 

Frontier developing countries are nothing new to express logistics company DHL Express, which has been operating in such markets for decades. Now, with growth in Europe and North America stunted, its CEO tells fDi that the company is reaping the benefits of its early endeavours in what are some of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Marine and air freight services, waste management and education are just some of the areas in which Sharjah is leading the way not only in the United Arab Emirates, but throughout the whole of the Middle East.

The seven emirates that make up the UAE have shown a degree of collaboration in making the country a world leader in the aerospace sector, but that doesn't mean that the competition between them has been anything less than fierce. 

Strategically placed between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, Donetsk Oblast's potential as a transport hub - by rail, air or sea - has long been recognised. Now that investment is being thrown at the sector, this potential looks set to be realised.