## 2 Literature Review  
Logistics refers to a component of the value chain that organizes, executes, and oversees the efficient movement of goods, services, and information from suppliers to consumers [33]. Globalization and rising competition have elevated logistics to a critical role in international trade. Effective logistics services ensure the swift and secure movement of products, lowering costs in cross-border transactions. Therefore, the significance of logistics lies in its capacity to efficiently manage transportation, storage, and packaging challenges, ultimately boosting the competitiveness of both businesses and the nation [3]. Logistics involves a wide range of functions and activities, making it a complex task to enhance competitiveness and ensure customer satisfaction. To succeed in these areas and meet performance objectives, it is essential to evaluate these functions and activities. A critical factor is considering the time and costs tied to logistics processes, such as customs clearance and transportation [8]. Historically, logistics performance at the micro level, focusing on individual firms or inter-firm operations, has been measured by cost efficiency and service quality [34]. In contrast, macro-level logistics performance, which focuses on national or international scales, primarily emphasizes calculating logistics costs related to transportation, warehousing, and inventory holding [35]. Research on logistics performance at the macro or national level remains relatively scarce [34]. However, the LPI remains the only comprehensive global measure for evaluating logistics service performance on a macroscale [11]. The LPI, introduced by the World Bank in 2007, was designed to evaluate countries' logistics performance and its related impacts. Initially, countries were assessed using seven criteria: customs, infrastructure, ease of shipment, logistics services, tracking ease, domestic logistics costs, and timeliness. In later editions released in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2023, the LPI was refined to include six criteria [36]. The LPI enables the comparison of logistics performance across nations and provides insights into the quality of infrastructure needed for land and sea transport, customs processes, and logistics costs [3]. Countries can utilize the detailed LPI analysis, published biennially by the World Bank, to evaluate their logistics performance and competitiveness in the global logistics sector [37]. The LPI dataset is derived from an online survey involving around 1000 participants. Responded assess performance across six key areas using a Likert scale, and these assessments are consolidated into an overall index through principal component analysis [38], and each LPI indicator is assessed with equal weights by the World Bank. However, refs. [12; 39] argue that this equal weighting can hinder the development of effective policies by countries, which is a noted limitation of the World Bank's LPI calculation [37]. To mitigate this issue, some studies have applied objective methods to determine criterion weights [37; 40]. Additionally, some research has utilized subjective weighting techniques [4; 12; 41; 42], while others have combined both objective and subjective approaches [39]. The increasing importance of the LPI is highlighted in academic literature, where numerous researchers have used diverse MCDM methods and criteria to assess and rank countries' logistics performance [40]. The number of studies employing MCDM models to evaluate country-level logistics performance is steadily increasing in the existing literature. For example, ref. [39] identified that the top three performing countries were Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, while Finland, France, and Spain ranked at the bottom. In another study, ref. [8] applied the CRITIC-MARCOS model to assess the Western Balkan countries' logistics performance in 2018, also using World Bank data, and ranked Serbia as the best performer. Furthermore, ref.