2025 FIATA HQ Meeting: Addressing Global Logistics Challenges and Opportunities
Geneva, 17 March 2025 - The 2025 FIATA HQ Meeting officially commenced today, bringing together key stakeholders from across the global freight forwarding and logistics industry to address pressing challenges and opportunities shaping the sector. Held at the FIATA Headquarters in Geneva, the event serves as a platform for knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and strategic dialogue on the future of global logistics.
The event was inaugurated with an opening session featuring an address from FIATA President, Mr. Turgut Erkeskin, a presentation by Mr. Tobias Wölfel, Senior Expert – Travel, Transport & Logistics, McKinsey & Company, and a fireside chat between FIATA Director General, Dr. Stéphane Graber, and former Vice President of Paraguay, Mr. Luis Alberto Castiglioni.
FIATA’s Vision and Priorities
During his address, FIATA President, Turgut Erkeskin, emphasised the strategic importance of FIATA’s headquarters in Geneva, highlighting its access to key international organisations and decision-makers. He outlined FIATA’s key priorities, including strengthening multimodal transport networks, enhancing trade facilitation, and promoting digital transformation in logistics. The President also reflected on the relevance of the HQ Meeting, noting the key discussions centred around "the need for a unified approach to tackle the challenges of global logistics."
FIATA Director General, Stéphane Graber, addressed the organisation’s recent push towards regionalisation. He elaborated on FIATA’s growing focus on empowering regional structures, ensuring that global logistics solutions are brought to local needs while maintaining a harmonised approach. "Our goal is to create a more resilient and adaptable logistics network that can respond to the unique challenges of each region while maintaining global coherence," said Graber.
McKinsey & Company's Insights
In his presentation, Mr. Tobias Wölfel shared key findings from McKinsey’s latest research on the logistics industry, highlighting the growing importance of digitalisation and automation in driving efficiency across the supply chain. He emphasised that market uncertainty is likely to remain, which could not be more true in view of the current geopolitical disruptions around the Suez Canal. Furthermore, Wölfel outlined the critical role of sustainability in shaping future logistics strategies, noting that companies must embrace green initiatives to remain competitive in the evolving regulatory landscape.
Perspectives from Paraguay
Former Vice President of Paraguay, Luis Alberto Castiglioni, provided insights into the evolution of trade in Latin America, pointing to the increasing role of the Bioceanic Corridor in facilitating connectivity between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He underscored the strategic significance of Paraguay’s central role in this initiative, highlighting its potential to enhance economic integration across the continent. Mr Castiglioni stated, "The Bioceanic Corridor is a transformative project that will reduce trade time by almost three weeks, creating a "Panama Canal" connection, in the South, through Paraguay. This initiative will save time and cost, promote investments, and enhance the value chain across the region. I look forward to involving FIATA in this project to benefit from its the cutting edge expertise in logistics and connecting FIATA with the authorities of my country."
A Global Outlook
Ambassador Hoyce Anderson Temu, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations Office in Geneva, extended a warm invitation to attendees to participate in the upcoming FIATA-Region Africa and Middle East (RAME) Field Meeting in Zanzibar. Her address highlighted the importance of fostering stronger regional collaborations to drive sustainable growth and resilience in global supply chains while supporting growing blue economy.
FIATA's Director General reaffirmed the organisation's core values—Inclusion, Collaboration, Innovation, Responsibility, and Excellence—highlighted by the presence of H.E. Castiglioni and H.E. Hoyce Temu, representing two regions with expanding logistics sectors.
As the 2025 FIATA HQ Meeting continues, participants will engage in high-level discussions and strategic sessions aimed at strengthening the industry’s resilience, efficiency, adaptability in an evolving global landscape and empowering its Members.
About FIATA
FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations is a non-governmental, membership-based organisation representing freight forwarders in some 150 territories. FIATA’s membership is composed of 113 Associations Members and more than 6,000 Individual Members, overall representing an industry of 40,000 freight forwarding and logistics firms worldwide. Based in Geneva, FIATA is ‘the global voice of freight logistics'.
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