FIATA President and Director General visit global hubs to meet key logistics supply chain stakeholders

Are you ready for the 2023 FIATA RAME Field Meeting in Uganda?  

FIATA and the Uganda Freight Forwarders Association (UFFA) are thrilled to host you at the upcoming FIATA RAME Field Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, from 1-3 August at the Speke Resort, under the title '“Resilience, Adaptability and Diversity in Global Supply Chains”. Delegates can register here by latest 28 July.

The FIATA Field Meetings are an excellent opportunity to foster closer relations between logistics stakeholders in the region and harness best practices. In this spirit, FIATA reminds Association Members that the deadline for bids to host subsequent FIATA-RAP Field Meetings ends is 17 July. Kindly send your bids to [email protected]. Finalists amongst the bidding RAME Associations Members will be selected at the upcoming Field Meeting. It should be noted that the selection of short-listed candidates will be limited to those from the sub-region which did not host the 2023 Field Meeting.

FIATA looks forward to your participation in Kampala, where you can make yourself heard and shape the future of FIATA!

FIATA President and DG at the 1st Trans Eurasian Cooperation Development Summit in Chongqing, China

The First Trans-Eurasian Cooperation Development Summit Forum of Supply Chain in the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor & Freight Forwarding Fair was held in Chongqing, Southwest China, and took place between 2-5 July, bringing together Trans-Eurasian international container transportation operators, international railway companies, freight forwarders, ports, carriers, and other key supply chain stakeholders. 

Hosts were FIATA Association Member, China International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFA), and the Port and Logistics Office of the Chongqing Municipal People's Government, as well as the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) and ASEAN Federation of Forwarders Associations (AFFA) with the support of Jiangjin District People's Government of Chongqing Municipality.

The FIATA President Ivan Petrov opened the FIATA participation of the event, sharing the latest updates of FIATA's work, priorities and challenges going forward, with the FIATA Director General Stéphane Graber sharing on the digitalisation of the logistics supply chain, also presenting the FIATA Digital FBL, and providing recommendation to the authorities for succeeding in the digital journey. 

FIATA President tours key Norwegian logistics hubs and meets key supply chain stakeholders

A few weeks ago, the FIATA President Ivan Petrov was welcomed at the Norwegian Logistics and Freight Association (NHO Logistikk og Transport - NHO LT) HQ in a fully packed visit of key logistics supply chain locations and stakeholders. He met with representatives of the Norwegian Confederation of Industries, Norwegian Freight Forwarding Association, Secretary of State Bent-Joachim Bentzen from the Ministry of Transport, BaneNor (Norwegian rail authorities), CargoNet, and also had a site visit of Alnabru (the largest Rail Freight Terminal in the Nordic Countries handling 500,000 TEU/year).

FIATA President Ivan Petrov shared "I was impressed with the strong position and competence that the Norwegian freight forwarders have within transport and logistics in Norway". He continued "All stakeholders seem to work in the same direction, towards the objective of strengthening the infrastructure for the logistics industry, and simultaneously for all Norwegian industries. Norway has its main focuses on energy (oil, gas, hydrogen, electricity) and seafood, and it is clear that the logistics sector has strong relationships with its logistics partners."

FIATA Vice President Ole A. Hagen and Chair of WG Rail said "It is of great importance that FIATA President Ivan Petrov could come to Norway, a significant partner to bridge the voice of the logistics sector at a regional, national and worldwide level. Ivan is a significant ambassador for FIATA and paves the way for us both nationally and internationally. These meetings show the potential for our industry when joining forces for the best of the freight forwarding sector."

FIATA DG joins DSLV annual Membership Meeting and meets German Young Freight Forwarder Award winner

In recent weeks, the FIATA DG had the chance to take part in the DSLV (Deutsche Spedition und Logistik Verband) annual Membership Meeting (Unternehmertag), in which he connected with various familiar, and new faces shining in the logistics industry in the country. In particular, the DG was able to connect with familiar members of the FIATA Association DSLV including Niels Beuck, FIATA Advisory Body on Safety and Security (ABSS) Chair and Deputy Director General of DSLV, as well as Frank Huster, Director General of DSLV, and Stefan Saß Managing Director of VHSp (Verein Hamburger Spediteure e.V).

A key highlight of the event was the announcement of the German National Freight Forwarder Award  FIATA Young Logistics Professionals Award winner, 26-year-old Laura Cristin Egerer, whose dissertation and project stunned the national judges. The six finalists were highly praised for their projects, and the FIATA DG heard about the excellence of this year's candidates, who are improving its calibre year on year according to the jury. In second place was Fynn Jacob Theisen (23) and in third place Johanna Glombik (22). 

FIATA congratulates all finalists, and winner Laura Christin Egerer for all their hard work, their excellent achievements, and wishes them all the best for their future, set to be a success! Have we sparked your interest to become a Young Logistics Professional Award winner? Read more about the FIATA award here!

Competition news: the European Commission continue in-depth investigations into French and German support measures for Fret SNCF and DB Cargo

The European Commission is investigating whether French government support for Fret SNCF complies with EU State aid rules. Fret SNCF, a subsidiary of SNCF, has received cash advances of around 4-4.3 billion EUR to cover its losses. The investigation focuses on these cash advances, the cancellation of Fret SNCF's debt of 5.3 billion EUR, and a capital injection of 170 million EUR. At this stage, based on its preliminary examination, the Commission has concerns that certain measures in favour of Fret SNCF, which were taken during the period 2007-2019, are not in line with EU State aid rules.

Read more here.

A similar investigation was initiated at the beginning of 2022 by the Commission regarding German support measures in favour of DB Cargo. The European Commission received a complaint stating that certain measures benefiting DB Cargo may constitute incompatible State aid. The complainant argues that these measures give DB Cargo an unfair advantage over its competitors by allowing the company to invest in business growth and fleet upgrades despite being loss-making, without considering profitability or liquidity. The Commission will investigate the allegations to determine the validity of the complaint.
The outcomes of these investigations are yet to be determined, and the European Commission will release its findings in due course. FIATA will follow up on the developments in this regard.