FIATA REVIEW

Singapore – World’s top logistics hubYiFFY award – Young forwarders with great passion Cargo – Fascination of Transport

Magazine of the International Federation of Freight ForwardersAs so ci a tions No. 99, October 2013

Contents

FIATA REVIEW NO. 99, OctOber 2013 3

Editorial 5 From the President’s Desk

News 6 YIFFY – Young Forwarders with great passion for the industry

8 Africa and the Middle East meet in Tanzania

12 Sri Lanka hosts Region Asia Pacific

14 Successful Special exhibition “Cargo – Fascination of Transport“

15 FIATA World Congress 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey

Country Report10 Singapore, world’s top logistics hub, moves towards innovative solutions and enhanced productivity

Personally17 Meet Basil Pietersen Chairman RAME

Here & There18 Happy Birthday

Agenda19 Forthcoming Events

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FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 2013 5

From the President’s desk

5

Colleagues and Friends

This is my final editorial address as your President. Elections will take place in Singapore and your

choice for the next FIATA President will be decided soon after. New blood, new life, new missions... let me say that in my term we have accomplished a great deal working together.

I shall very swiftly mention that this FIATA Review issue features such ar-ticles as the Introduction of the YIFFY Award Winners, a mirroring and at times challenging report on RAME in Tanzania and an update from the RAP Field Meeting in Sri Lanka. SPEDLOG-SWISS also takes us on a fascinating trip into their transport and logistics exhibi-tion. Our friends in Istanbul are already ringing their bells for the Congress in 2014 and finally the interview article with the charismatic Basil Pietersen as the new Chairman of RAME provides insight into the future of the region.

Coming to my own part, I shall not make a long list of official visits, posi-tions papers, public opinion articles, etc. Those of you who have followed our work know quite well what we have accomplished with the assistance of the Presidency and Extended Board.

However, I wish to conclude my inter-ventions by answering a challenging question with which I was recently faced. The questions went as follows “Have [you] any suggestions on how to address the view that cumbersome trade procedures may not be so bad for freight forwarders?”

After carefully thinking about the ques-tion, my answers became clear. “FIATA has taken positions in favour of simpli-fication and facilitation for many, many years. All our public positions are meant to urge governments to fully embrace trade facilitation and we suggest most of the times practical ways to achieve this high level objective. We all know that between promoting a good idea and getting it implemented takes much work, especially when dealing with na-tional organisation. Recommendations and solutions may take time to find their place in different national or regional legislation.”

“Forwarders are practical people and they have provided for decades a single window for traders, whereby they could proceed with the least aggravation in terms of regulatory requirements and supply chain disruptions. This is the work that many of our customers find immensely valuable: the proof is our market share is expanding. Whilst we urge the public sector to make trade easier we cannot blindfold ourselves and fail to provide traders with practical help within the boundaries of reality. In this light, cumbersome trade procedures are almost inevitably bad for freight forwarders, because they are generally very time consuming, thus extremely detrimental for an industry where the costly human capital is a not-negligible part of the overheads.”

In short, we thrive with organisation, not from complication. Stanley LimPresident of FIATA

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FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 2013 76

News

6

YIFFY – Young Forwarders with great passion for the industryOnce again a highlight of this year’s FIATA

World Congress will be the naming of the

Young International Freight Forwarder of the

Year (YIFFY Award)

SPONSORED BY FIATA and the TT Club, the YIFFY Award is organized on a regional basis. The overall winner will be chosen from the top finishers in each of the following regions: Africa/Middle East, Americas, Asia/Pacific and Europe. The international winner will be announded during the opening ceremony of the 2013 FIATA World Congress in Singapore.

The young professionals portrayed in this article have been nominated for the final round. Each participant had to select one key import commodity/cargo for their home country and one key export com-modity/cargo. They were asked in their dissertation to consider the complexity of the issues of importing and exporting i.e. bulk cargo, over-sized/overweight project cargo, time sensitive cargo, reefer and/or perishable goods, hazardous goods, multi-modal moves as well as cross-border issues, regulatory issues and risk management.

The four final candidates are:

Region AmericasKaloyan Petrov (Canada)

Region Asia/PacificPrabhjot Singh (India)

Region EuropeJanna Marie van Burgeler (Germany)

Region Africa/Middle EastMohamed Samy (Egypt)

KALOYAN PETROV – “FUTURE PLANS TO GROW WITHIN OCEAN FREIGHT SECTOR”Kaloyan was born and raised in Bulgaria but his North American journey started with his successful participation in a for-eign exchange student program in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. After earning his high school diploma there, he immigrated to Canada in 2006. His first step down the challenging path of freight forwarding was the completion of a Business Administra-tion and Management diploma from Sheri-dan College, Toronto, ON. His educational background also includes the completion of the CIFFA Advanced Certificate in International Freight Forwarding.

Kaloyan launched his career in one of the biggest providers of forwarding and logis-tics services – Panalpina – and is currently holding a position in its Toronto office. Being responsible for the Ocean Import Customer Service Europe LCL desk, he is also a Key Account Coordinator for several VIP accounts. In addition he has assumed the role of ACI Control Tower. His responsibilities are to train, monitor, and trouble shoot all ACI matters within the Panalpina global network ensuring they are resolved promptly and efficiently.

Given his high interest in the industry, his future plans include further develop-ment within the ocean freight product,

especially systems and processes. On an academic perspective, he is considering pursuing a FIATA Diploma, as well as a Master’s degree in Maritime Economics in the next few years. A passion for supply chain management runs in Kaloyan’s fam-ily and he admits to undoubtedly owing his inspiration from his mother who is also working in the freight forwarding business.

Kaloyan’s decision to participate in the competition was influenced by his con-stant desire to challenge and prove himself at an academic and professional level. He concedes that making it this far into the contest was a tremendous learning experi-ence and an excellent chance to demon-strate his skills and abilities.

Kaloyan is excited to have the opportunity to continue to the next and final stage of the competition where he will be able to gain more knowledge in the freight forwarding industry and expand his pro-fessional network at an international level and is looking forward to the opportunity to proudly represent Region Americas and more specifically Canada in the worldwide competition.

PRABHJOT SINGH – “SECOND GENERATION ENTREPRENEURS”Prabhjot knows that the freight forward-ing industry is a vast and diverse field but

also understands that there are very few young people who fully comprehend it. Though his father is a freight forwarder, he was not able to understand the freight forwarding industry until he attended a 6 month IATA Cargo Basic Course programme during his final year of MBA. During this course, as he gained more and more knowledge of the industry, he start-ed developing a keen interest in freight forwarding and in the end decided to join the family business M/s Cwick (Import Consolidations) Private Limited in 2008. Now, freight forwarding has become his passion and he wants to expand his busi-ness globally.

He describes his core functions currently as looking after the consolidation busi-ness of the company but at the same time is well aware of all the other aspects of the business. He likes to get involved in each and every shipment that they handle because each shipment is different and there is always something to learn. Since competition is increasing every day, this also helps him to provide the best end-to-end solution to customers at the best price.

Prabhjot admits that he is motivated by knowledge and achievement and that for this reason he opted to participate in the YIFFY competition as it was an opportu-nity to increase his knowledge and under-standing of the freight forwarding indus-try. Since his company’s core business is to handle the projects of the Government of India, after being nominated by the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associa-tions in India (FFFAI) for participation in the YIFFY competition, he focussed on taking up projects that were challenging and where his research on those projects could form part of his dissertation. His reasoning behind this move was that this

would make his dissertation more realistic and it may be possible that by the time he presents his dissertation at the FIATA World Congress, he would have handled both the shipments mentioned in his dissertation. Prabhjot feels honoured to have been selected as a regional winner and is highly motivated to win the award in Singapore.

JANA MARIE VAN BURGELER – “LIKES TO EXPLORE THE WIDE FIELD OF LOGISTICS”Jana van Burgeler decided as a teen-ager that she wanted to work in an inter-cultural environment when she finished school. After graduating from the Ger-man institution known as ‘Abitur’ (simi-lar to high school) she stayed in Costa Rica for six months as a volunteer. In Costa Rica she got in touch with a completely foreign culture to her own and learned to speak Spanish fluently.

On returning to Germany she began an apprenticeship in Germany in the freight forwarding field with the goal to become a freight forwarder. What she likes about freight forwarding is the international aspect and the international network she gets to be a part of, which enables her to get the shipments to be transported fast and flexibly worldwide.

Jana has now been working at DHL Glob-al Forwarding in Hamburg for over a year, and is currently stationed in the sea freight export department for buyers of console shipments for one of DHL’s big-gest customers. She is therefore in contact with colleagues from many European and South American countries to coordinate and organize the export of automotive spare parts from Germany to Brazil.

Jana describes her participation in the YIFFY competition as being a great ex-perience for her young career as a freight forwarder allowing her to explore with greater depth the wide field that is logis-tics. Her assignment started with the or-ganization, transportation and documen-tation of a simple truck shipment from A to B and furthermore the chartering of an aircraft to ship out a complete VIP task from Germany to Brazil.

Jana asserts that she really enjoyed work-ing on this project because she got in touch with interesting people who were able to explain new procedures and han-dling methods to her. She admits that she is very proud to be the European winner and is looking forward to the exciting trip to Singapore. In Singapore she hopes to expand her knowledge further and get in touch with other freight forwarders. Jana is hoping to work in a sales depart-ment and live for a few years abroad in the near future.

MOHAMED SAMY – “KNOWL-EDGE AND EXPERIENCE IS THE KEY TO PROFESSIONALISM”Mohamed has been with ASMA Marine for almost four years and is working as manager for freight forwarding. He pro-

Continued on next page

FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 2013 98

News

8

Africa and the Middle East meet in Tanzania

actively manages the daily operations of the freight services department to include all sea and air freight forwarding activities. Most exciting, he says, is to lead and direct all sales and business developments in line with the company strategy to expand its services worldwide. He admits that ensuring constant competitive services to the market through efficient and innova-tive operations and smart pricing policies is his daily goal. Moreover, he provides

leadership, guidance and support to the team and trains and motivates staff too, but after being a member of the board of directors, he felt the responsibility to oversee all of the activities of the company.Mohamed alleges to be a very ambitious person and wants to become a personality force within the logistics and transport industry not only in Egypt but worldwide as well.

He believes that ambition is the path to success and persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. Mohamed has always felt that he was meant to do something great in this world and is convinced that a combination of knowledge and experience is the key to professionalism in the freight forwarding industry. Accordingly, he completed his FIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding in March 2013 with impressive scoring.

Mohamed deeply believes that each new challenge makes him more experienced and creates an opportunity to build on his faith, inner strength, self-confidence and courage for the future. He found the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award (YIFFY Award) to be a great opportunity to challenge himself. It was not only a matter of discussing key import and export commodities but also an opportunity to introduce the concept of “The Architect of Transport”: A Pivotal Role in the Economy. The YIFFY subject enabled him to discuss the idea that ef-ficient transport is a critical component of economic development, globally and nationally, and that no doubt being a Regional Winner motivated him more to achieve one of his dreams: developing transport and logistics solutions of signifi-cant effects for the Egyptian economy.

Region Africa Middle East – FIATA Regional

Field Meeting 2013

The annual field meeting of FIATA’s Region Africa Middle East (RAME) was held in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, from 19–21 June 2013. The venue chosen for the gathering was the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel situated in Oyster Bay, Dar Es Salaam. The field meeting was suc-cessfully held under the theme “Towards More Sustainable Regional Freight For-warding Partnerships in the Region Africa and Middle East”.

This year’s field meeting was attended by more than 200 delegates representing around 20 countries. A special distinction

was afforded by the current FIATA Presi-dent, Mr Stanley Lim, to the Honourable Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr Mohamed Ghalib Bilali, as well as the Honourable Minister of Trans-port for Tanzania, Dr Harrison Mwaky-embe. It was the first time in FIATA his-tory that an acting national vice-president participated in a RAME field meeting.

The annual meeting’s primary goal is to bring regional players together to achieve networking, disseminate best practices and to provide delegates an opportunity to deal with issues and challenges prevail-ing in their respective countries and to explore potential paths to resolutions us-ing the FIATA mechanism. The regional meeting and its rotational basis provides

such a platform, since its inception some 13 years ago. This year’s event, much like all previous meetings, hosted, amongst others, senior freight forwarders, business delegates, government officials, ambas-sadors, and trade representatives, chiefly from the Africa and Middle East regions.

FIATA’s President, Mr Stanley Lim, ex-pressed his admiration for the high par-ticipation volumes and representation from the Middle East and Africa. Mr Lim elaborated on FIATA’s role in reaching out to the region and the vision to improve awareness and knowledge in global trade. RAME was the last to be incorporated into the FIATA fold and it is important that sufficient support is provided to harness its full potential.

RAME Chairman, Mr Basil Pietersen, was proud to announce that two candidates from the region had participated in this year’s Young Freight Forwarder of the Year competition. These candidates were from Egypt and Kenya. Mr Mohamed Samy of Egypt was selected to represent the region at the FWC to be held in Singapore in October 2013, and is therefore one of the four regional winners for 2013. RAME is hopeful that once again, as it was the case last year, its regional winner will also be crowned overall champion to claim the coveted title of the Young Freight For-warder of the Year 2013.

Mr Farid Saffarzadeh, an Iran repre-sentative and advisor to the Multimodal Transport Institute, Working Group Sea, addressed delegates with an introduc-tion to the work, targets, and pending issues discussed within the WG Sea. This sparked an interesting discussion from the floor. After the highly informative presentation and debate instigated by Mr Saffarzadeh, Mr Reuben Ndegwa from Kenya took the floor to brief the delegation on the count-less developments currently underway in Kenya. He highlighted projects such as the development of the Lamu Port and the proposed new railway networks spanning Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

Mr Joseph Musariri, Manager of the Ship-ping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe – SFAAZ – delivered an engaging country presentation followed by another intense floor discussion. The presentation from Zimbabwe had a two-fold purpose – firstly to provide informa-tion about the country and its people, and secondly to bid for the RAME Field Meeting which it hopes to host in 2014.

The Ethiopian Freight Forward-ers and Shipping Agents Association – EFFSAA – in-formed the congress about new direc-tives which were is-sued earlier this year allowing private and public sectors to practice equally the profession of forwarding and shipping within the country.

After a coffee break which allowed del-egates sufficient time to network and engage with industry colleagues, Mr Aldo Da Ros (Italy), President of the FIATA Foundation, took the floor to deliver a much appreciated presentation on the goals, activities and objectives of the FIATA Foundation, a unique body aimed at the development of skilled manpower for the freight forwarding industry.

Another recurring theme was raised from the floor – the conviction of RAME del-egates to become more actively involved in the Advisory Bodies, Institutes and Working Groups of FIATA. The chairman expressed his profoundest support for this notion and noted that this has to be the ultimate goal of RAME to ensure that members are successfully inducted into the various organs of FIATA.

The growing importance of the FIATA RAME Field Meeting is strongly demon-strated by the great number of applica-tions which have been received, all with the same hope – to host the 2014 and 2015 Field Meetings in their respective

countries. The final vote which will decide the host of the 2014 gathering will be taken at the 2013 FIATA World Congress in Singapore.

The chairman concluded the meeting with a vote of thanks to TAFFA for a job well done in hosting this year’s Field Meeting. RAME Chairman, Mr Basil Pieterson, hopes to see many of the delegates present and many more at the World Congress in October.

This year’s RAME Field Meeting held its premiere in RAME history, as it was the first time that the event was at-tended by such a high and large delega-tion from the FIATA body itself. FIATA President, Mr Stanley Lim and three for-mer FIATA Presidents, Mr Issa Baluch, Mr Abdelmalek Dahmani (Founder of RAME), and Mr Aldo Da Ros (President FIATA Foundation) were all in attendance. In addition, the RAME Chairman, Mr Basil Pietersen, and the RAME Manager, Mr Peter Maegerle, were also there to wit-ness this achievement.

Opening Ceremony of the RAME Meeting

FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 2013 111110

Country Report

Singapore, world’s top logistics hub, moves towards innovative solutions and enhanced productivity

Singapore with its strategic location in

the Asia-Pacific region has grown from an

entrepôt centre into the world’s busiest port

of today. The “Little Red Dot”, as it is fondly

known, has become the world’s largest

transshipment hub, as well as the world’s

top bunkering port.

At least 200 different shipping lines with daily shipments to every major port in the world call at Singapore’s harbour with about 85 per cent of the containers that cross its wharves being transshipped to an-other port. In addition, its Changi Airport is the seventh busiest international airport today, serving more than 100 international airlines flying to about 220 cities in about 60 countries and territories worldwide.

Today, at least 21 of the 25 largest in-ternational logistics players have chosen Singapore as their global/regional head-quarters in the region to conduct their logistics operations. These key global lo-gistics companies include DHL, Kuehne + Nagel, Sankyu, Schenker, Toll, UPS and Yusen Logistics. Their choice is further affirmed in the 2012 World Bank Lo-gistics Performance index which reports Singapore as the world’s top logistics hub, well-equipped with qualified personnel, high-end infrastructure and top-notch service to facilitate and optimize Supply Chain Management (SCM).

Favourable Forecast It is no wonder that the logistics and transportation industry is increasingly becoming an important economic sector, contributing up to 8% of Singapore’s gross domestic product in 2011 and em-ploying about 205,000 workers. With less than 2% unemployment rate, Singapore is faced with a manpower challenge in vari-ous industries, in which innovation and

productivity have been identified as the likely solutions.

Singapore’s forecast for the logistics indus-try continues to be favourable. In 2012, the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council in Singapore endorsed a $42 million, five-year productivity road-map to enhance the long-term produc-tivity of the logistics and transportation industry. The roadmap focuses on two key areas namely ‘Enhancing SCM Expertise’, and ‘Enhancing Innovation and Improving Efficiency at Enterprise and Industry Levels’.

Developing SCM ExpertisePlans are in progress to strengthen the SCM expertise in Singapore by knowl-edge transfer of global best practices and know-how of key industry players to Singapore partners. In addition, logistics companies in Singapore are encouraged to develop specialised capabilities, including biomedical sciences, perishables, oil and gas and aerospace. On-the-job training is strongly encouraged at logistics compa-nies to develop the SCM expertise.

To stay ahead of customers’ changing demands, continuous innovation and ef-ficiency, innovation is encouraged at the

enterprise and industry levels. The Centre of Innovation for SCM (COI-SCM) was recently launched to serve as the platform and one-stop centre to assist companies in maximizing efficiency gains through process innovation, use of technology and automation, process re-design and re-engineering. The Logistics Productivity Toolkit has been developed to assist enter-

prises in measuring productivity as well as, identifying key gaps and opportuni-ties for upgrading and enhancing logistic processes.

Strong Support The Singapore Logistics Association (SLA), since its inception in 1973, has been sup-portive of the government’s initiatives to boost Singapore as a world-class logistics hub. With its vision to represent Singa-pore logistics and its mission to promote professionalism and excellence throughout the logistics industry, SLA has decided to embark on the 4-year Local Enterprise & Association Development (LEAD) 2 Pro-gramme, following it’s success of LEAD 1 which ended in 2011. The SLA LEAD 2 champions the interests of members and spearheads changes at the industry level to ensure that businesses remain competitive both locally and internationally. Through LEAD 2, SLA is seeking to boost the pro-

ductivity and sector connectivity, to in-crease manpower in logistics and to bring members to the international platform.

Through its fully-owned subsidiary, The Logistics Academy Pte Ltd, SLA strives to prepare a workforce equipped with industry-relevant skills and knowledge of the supply chain and logistics industry.

With a growing membership close to 500 corporate entities, SLA is gearing up to celebrate its 40th Anniversary this year in conjunction with the 2013 FIATA World Congress in Singapore.

“We Can, Singapore Logistics Makes Everything Possible.”

Singapore – Facts & FiguresOfficial Name: Republic of Singapore

Capital: Singapore

Form of Government: Republic

Area: 707.1 square kilometres

Coastline: 193 kilometres

Population: 5.312 million people,

Ethnic Groups: Chinese (74.2%), Malays (13.3%), Indians (9.2%), Others (3.3%)

Languages: Chinese (Mandarin dialect), Malay, English, and Tamil

Administrative Divisions: Singapore, being a city itself, has no administrative divisions

Major Trading Partners: Malaysia, China, Indonesia and South Korea

Singapore Tanjong Pagar Terminal – The world’s busiest Transshipment Hub

Johor BahruMALAYSIA

Straits of Singapore

Jurong

Bukit Timah

Santosa island

LimChu Kang

ChoaChu Kang

Woodlands

Ang Mo Kio Pasir Ris

Tampines

Bedok

Changi Airport

Pulau Jurong(Jurong Island)

Selat Pandan

(Pandan Strait)

Straits of Johor

Pulau Ubin

FIATA REVIEW NO. 98, JulY 2013 1312

News

Sri Lanka hosts Region Asia Pacific The 7th annual Field Meeting of FIATA

Association Members in the Region Asia

Pacific (RAP) was held in conjunction with

UNESCAP meetings from 5 to 7 June 2013

at Negombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Some 40 participants from 15 countries and

territories in the region were in attendance.

At the first RAP Field Meeting back in 2007 held in Bangkok, it was decided that a cooperative relationship between FIATA and UNESCAP was best suited for the development of freight forwarding in the region and thus that the two organizations would collaborate to hold their respective meetings side by side, to aid participa-tion numbers by making it easy for par-ticipants to attend both simultaneously. This partnership has proven necessary and indeed credible in the deliberations of the various topics related to the industry over the years since then.

As a consequence, the 7th round of this winning formula was concluded in Sri Lanka this past June. The three different sessions were attended by around 50 in-ternational participants representing over 15 countries and territories from FIATA’s Region Asia Pacific.

All meetings were hosted and co-organised with the support of SLFFA, the Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders Association. SLFFA was an excellent host and a special word of thanks is extended to them for their continuous efforts to ensure the successful execution of the event.

FIATA Regional Field Meetings are aimed at giving a platform to key stakeholders enabling them to share their experiences and knowledge, to do networking, to discuss matters of common concern and to contribute substantially to the devel-

opment of an international integrated transport and logistics system.

The sentiments echoed by Mr Dong-Woo Ha Director, Transport Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific, the Welcome Address of FIATA President, Mr Stanley Lim, and the Welcome Statement of SLFFA’s Chairman, Mr Mohan S. Mohanadas, at the opening ceremony, underlined the importance of these meetings.

Issues on the table were deliberated with flare and accompanied by interesting inputs from guests and delegates. The following subjects amongst others were addressed by speakers at the FIATA ses-sion concerning matters from the Region Asia Pacific:

An update on planned changes to the Australian Air Cargo Security Program was presented by Mr Brian Lovell, CEO AFIF, who informed the delegation about the Australian Regulators – Regulated Shipper Programme (RSS).

A presentation entitled ‘Innovation of the Mongolian Freight Logistics Business’ was given by Mrs Gerelmaa Ulzii-Orshikh, Member of MNFFA and Head of the Air-freight Institute MNFFA, who provided the meeting with an informative insight into the status of the Mongolian Freight Logistics Business inter alia based on the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI). She said that it was made clear that considerable work had to be undertaken by Mongolia to progress further and dem-onstrated examples of current projects.

A discussion on recent infrastructure de-velopment on Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway was led by a UNESCAP

representative, Ms Heini Suominen, Asso-ciate Economic Affairs Officer, Transport Facilitation and Logistics Section, Trans-port Division, whose presentation was entitled: Trade and Transport – Economic context and transport being one of the major contributors to CO2 emissions.

Matters relating to vocational training in the region were addressed by the FIATA chairman of the relevant field, Mr Thomas Sim, who updated delegates on inter alia validation and re-validation procedures; diploma issuances and comparison charts on the diplomas issued in different areas;

the 6th ABVT Forum to be held on Friday, 18 October 2013 at the FIATA World Congress; and submission procedures for the YIFFY competition.

A range of issues regarding freight for-warders in China were examined by Ms Liu Yingna representing the Chinese In-ternational Forwarders Association (CIFA). Points covered by Ms Yingna included the BT to VAT reform, Guiding Opinions of the Development of Freight Forwarding Industry, and the Pilot Reform of Paper-less Customs Clearance.

The impact of carbon emission savings on supply chain decisions was reviewed by Mr Chaminda Gunasekera, Vice President, SLFFA and Freight Links International, Colombo, Sri Lanka, who delivered a thorough and thought-provoking pres-entation.

For further information and a detailed ac-count of matters discussed and presented at this meeting please look out for the of-ficial minutes with your country/territory association as these will be published on the FIATA Document Delivery System (FDDS). For further information about

UNESCAP, their undertakings and objec-tions visit www.unescap.org.

The 8th FIATA RAP Field Meeting in conjunction with UNESCAP is set to be held in 2014 in Beijing, China. Both FIATA and UNESCAP have endorsed the decision to hold next year’s meetings in conjunction in Beijing following a much appreciated invitation from CIFA to act as the hosting FIATA Association Member for the session in 2014.

The 7th RAP Field Meeting, Sri Lanka, 5 Juni 2013

News

FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 201314 FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 2013 15

News

Successful Special exhibition “Cargo – Fascination of Transport“ in the Swiss Museum of Transport Lucerne, Switzerland

On March 28, 2013, the Swiss Museum of

Transport in Lucerne officially opened its

special exhibition on Cargo under the title

“Cargo – Fascination of Transport”. The show

will run until the 20th of October, 2013.

SPEDLOGSWISS, the Swiss association of the international freight forwarding lo-gistics industry, sat on the advisory board to help establish this exciting exhibition project. They were given recognition for their efforts by being nominated as ex-hibition partner. SPEDLOGSWISS has approximately 330 member companies representing more than 95% of the freight forwarding industry in Switzerland.

SPEDLOGSWISS together with more than 40 partner companies have conceived and implemented this fascinating and unique exhibit inside the Swiss Museum of Transport. There are approximately 40 sea containers placed in the center of the exhibit, supplemented with rail wag-ons, trucks, lifting equipment, cranes and aerial cargo containers (ULDs). The sea containers serve as showrooms and interac-tion rooms. Through interactive and play-ful techniques, the exhibit informs visitors of the dependence on worldwide well-functioning, efficient transport chains un-willing to go back to self-supplier. Daniel Schluep, the organizer of the exhibition in the Swiss Museum of Transport, com-mented on the particular situation in Switzerland. He stated that Switzerland is highly dependent on the import of food products, fuels or raw materials. He also commented on the exceptional products made in Switzerland and exported to other countries. The export and import channels have become more readily available due to enhancement in technologies, logistic performances and huge container ships.

Our industry has used this special exhibi-tion in Lucerne as a unique opportunity to provide information on the subject of goods traffic and its relevance to a wider audience. In addition, through the exhibit we can clarify the complexities which become apparent in the freight forwarding and logistic industry. With the help of real life example, the exhibit presents the spe-cial and daily perceptible meaning of our industry. Nothing is transported which was not ordered! Thus the visitors learn such things as how the tiger mosquito came to Ticino, the Italian part of Switzer-land, as an unlisted “passenger” or how a teddy-bear made in China could find its way into the toy shelves in Switzerland or how Customs is active in the protection of endangered species or the control against unlawful counterfeits.

By allowing visitors to participate in the exhibit, it is assured that each visitor de-velops a better understanding of transport, freight forwarding and logistic procedures creating real passion for “Cargo”. In addi-tion, a desired effect is, that the exhibits helps influence younger visitors to join the

freight forwarding and logistics industry. SPEDLOGSWISS presents the exciting job profiles of individuals working in the freight forwarding industry through a specially built 20 foot sea cargo con-tainer by means of a short film about the business basic vocational training in all three national languages: German, French and Italian.

With over 3,000 school visits a year, SPEDLOGSWISS sees it as a must to seize this opportunity to draw the younger audience enticing the youngsters to be-come active in pursuing careers in the international forwarding logistics industry though the education system offered at SPEDLOGSWISS (for more educational details in Switzerland, please look into our FIATA Review No. 94 of October 2012).

Further information is available at the fol-lowing internet addresses: www.verkehrs-haus.ch/en and www.spedlogswiss.com

Thomas Schwarzenbach, Managing Director, SPEDLOGSWISS

Young people with great interest for the world of transport

Congress Manager, Mr. Peter Maegerle, was

in Istanbul from 16 to 19 July 2013 to give

practical tips to Congress Organizers.

His advice will help assure a successful 2014

FIATA World Congress.

It is required that the congress manager, in this case Peter Maegerle, attends the Congress site in the host country. The objective of his visit is to ensure that the Organizing committee is on track to host the Congress in 2014 following UTI-KAD’s commitment.

Mr. Maegerle in collaboration with the FWC Organizing Committee examined the Main Congress Hotel, The Hilton Bomonti Istanbul, which is the hosting venue of the event. They also paid several visits to surrounding hotels which would host delegate members.

A warm welcome was passed to the del-egation at all locations visited. All the considered sites are well connected to the established hotels, shopping areas and public transports. The 2014 FIATA World Congress offers outdoor tours for all accompanying persons. They include

most of the Istanbul tourist attractions like the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Istanbul Cisternes and many more.

The meeting between the FWC 2014 Organizing Committee and the Profes-sional Congress Organizer (Viking Tours) regarding the preliminary plans was re-ported to have been intensive but fruitful.

More information will be made available to the attending delegates of the FWC 2013 in Singapore and the FWC 2014 Istanbul booth at the Suntec Exhibition and Congress Centre.

FIATA World Congress 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey

Examination of the Main Congress Hotel in Istanbul

FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 2013 17

Personally

In association with Hosted by

ASSOCIATION O

F IN

TERNATIONAL FORWARDING AND LOGISTICS SERVICE PROVIDERS

S U S T A I N A B L E G R O W T H I N L O G I S T I C S

13-18 October 2014 ISTANBUL

FIATAWORLD CONGRESS

WORLD CONGRESSISTANBUL

13-18 October 2014

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN LOGISTICS

www.fiata2014.org

Basil Pietersen was born in Sophiatown,

South Africa, and after schooling completed

two degrees before finally completing an

International Transportation diploma.

His working career began with Shipping

Systems, where he went on to take over as

MD. The company was incorporated into

the Micor Group of Companies and here he

explored service offerings. Basil held vari-

ous senior positions in a number of group

companies including MD at a joint venture

called AMI South Africa.

After 30 years at Micor he moved to Barlo-

world Group where he established a projects

division. He soon realised it was time to

establish his own business and founded

Multimodal Logistics Solutions (Pty) Ltd.

Basil has managed projects in 42 African

countries originating from all over the globe.

Multilog specialises in the movement of

abnormal cargo to challenging destinations,

including the chartering of vessels and

aircrafts.

What fascinates you about the freight forwarding industry?No day is the same, ever! As a senior manager in the industry, you need to have a handle on geography, customs law, mari-time law, insurance, transport, trade and so on – it pulls together such a diversity of skill sets and interests that you can never be bored.

What was the motivation to accept your post with FIATA?I have a real sense of service and I believe there is a tremendous amount of important work to be done – and that of course means playing an active, participative role. I can-not walk away from a new challenge.

How do you view the state of the industry today?For business owners and freight forward-ers who have the appetite and ability to breach their comfort zone, Africa is an oys-ter of business opportunities. Yes, there are many challenges, but as a business grouping, we are known for our ability and entrepreneurial spirit to lead from the front finding African solutions for African challenges.

What changes would you like to see?The lingering perceptions that trade with Africa is risky need to be challenged; especially as we see the foreign direct investment in Africa growing as inves-tor confidence improves. From a FIATA perspective, I would like to grow the membership base from African countries, particularly the Francophone countries.

What advice would you give a young person joining the industry today?We need to get rid of this homogenisation of our tertiary education choices whereby we believe the only viable careers are

academic ones such as lawyers, doctors and accountants. For me knowing that there will always be trade, and cross-border movements of goods, means there will always be fantastic growth and career opportunities in the freight forwarding industry.

What has been mankind’s best invention?Medical science and development in this field really fascinates me. Looking at the amazing work that is being done in ge-netics and disease prevention and finding cures for the incurable, it’s hard not to be blown away by just how incredible it all is.

Which famous person would you like to have met?It’s undoubtedly Ghandi. This man in-spires me. He gave up everything to lead his people by example, and working to achieve freedom and equality for all, in India and in Africa.

Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?I would like to take a group of children from impoverished backgrounds and show them the world and that there is opportu-nity out there for them.

What plans do you have for the future or for your retirement?What’s retirement? I want to travel the world for pleasure rather than business spending time with my wife seeing the sights and experiencing the cultures of faraway places. And finally I want to write a book about my family’s heritage that spans some of the darkest days during SA’s apartheid years. I would love to be able to tell our story.

Meet Basil PietersenChairman RAME

FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 201318 FIATA REVIEW No. 99, OctOber 2013 19

AgendaHere & There

Next Edition:

December 2013

FIATA REVIEW

Bi-monthly Magazine of the International

Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations

Circulation 6700 copies

Published by FIATA International Federation

of Freight Forwarders Associations

Articles written by outside contributors do not

necessarily reflect the views or policies of FIATA

EditorInternational Federation of Freight Forwarders

Associations FIATA

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CopyrightNo article may be reproduced by any means in whole

or in part without the written permission of FIATA

Forthcoming EventsOctober 15—19 2013, Singapore/Singapore

FIATA World Congresswww.fiata2013.org

September 29—October 01 2013, Doha/Qatar

Qatar International Exhibition for Transport & Logistics, 2nd Edition

www.trans4qatar.com

March 20—23 2014, Zurich/Switzerland

FIATA Headquarters Session

October 13—18 2014, Istanbul/Turkey

FIATA World Congress

Happy Birthday!

Reach the freight forwarders’ management executives

FIATA REVIEWNext Edition: December 2013. Advertising deadline: 28 October 2013

FIATA congratulates some well-known delegates on their birthdays. We wish them many more years of good health and happiness.

Mr Colin S. Beaumont celebrated his 70th birthday on 1 September 2013. Since 1996 he has been a FIATA Delegate. In 2001 he became Chairman ABPR, and has been an Honorary Mem-ber of FIATA since 2006.

Mr Gottfried Baumann (Switzerland) celebrated his 85th birthday on 15 Sep-tember 2013. A FIATA Delegate since 1973, he became FIATA Treasurer in 1979 and has been an Honorary Board Member of FIATA since 1995.

Mr Valeri Alisseitchik (Russian Fed-eration) celebrates his 75th birthday on 7 October 2013. He has been a FIATA Del e-gate since 1984, was FIATA Vice President from 1999 until 2004, and became an Honorary Member of FIATA in 2005.