Humanity is quite resilient. I am reminded of this reality after spending the past few days in Geneva 🇨ðŸ‡, a city that is preparing for the possibility of losing a portion of its expat population, following funding cuts both at the local and international level. The word I would use to describe the past five years is unpredictable. But we remain hopeful that institutions and individuals will remain resilient. Resilience was equally an underlying theme at the FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations HQ meeting which brought together key stakeholders across the industry. It was an incredible opportunity to gain snapshot insights and interact with practitioners in the logistics field (Published Mar 20 2025)
Adjusting the sails is a continuous necessity in the current geopolitical environment, a concept that is familiar to logisticians. I had the privilege of joining the FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations HQ meeting as part of a continued project with the team and gained several insights into the current challenges and opportunities for global freight transport and logistics. A few thoughts to reflect on:
- In 2024, air freight demand saw double digit growth year-on-year, noting that supply chain disruptions favour air freight where it is easier to replenish a shipment. Volatility in the global supply chain is reconfiguring the supply chain of customers. Tobias Wölfel in his expert analysis suggested two key considerations when planning where to invest energy and money to remain relevant in the current system- figure out where to play and how to win. Where to play meaning being on the right trade lanes, focusing on customer segments where you have competitive advantage; how to win meaning harnessing the aspects of freight forwarding that make you unique recalling that this remains a people business, and good business relations are key, even in an environment of automation.
- On the need to always be prepared, ‘An emergency is not the first time to make a friend’ was a great reminder that institutions and individuals need to build trust over time to face the demands of today. Andrew Farrelly rightly stated that pleading your own ignorance is a good catalyst for change meaning being open to ask for feedback, gain insights into subjects one may not be aware of and developing common ground between practitioners and regulators. When it comes to digitizing new systems there is need to connect with old systems already operational at the company.
- When negotiating trade agreements, actors often think about the economic priorities and national interests but more effort needs to be made in considering implementation and how the agreement will be operationalised. This includes areas such as proving value addition on a product, the applicability of different trade agreements and the availability of resources for verification in different regions.
- Road transport continues to face rising costs, increasing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint and labour shortages in some regions. While some proposals suggest using lower fuel-emitting vehicles, there are challenges with varying infrastructure per country and greater costs. Variations in customer demands regarding decarbonisation of logistics are also evident.
- Finally, fostering cybersecurity and protecting the integrity of the supply chain is a collective responsibility. Some ideas on how to sustain cyber hygiene include identifying and separating core data from other data, informing your partner agency that they should halt a transaction if they notice a change in your account details unless they were pre-informed, practicising your disaster recovery plan, and setting up cybersecurity insurance. It’s also important to think about data ownership, how to protect your organisation if the status of the data you interact with is unclear or unstated.
In closing Turgut Erkeskin President of FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations noted that logisticians remain global towers of the connected world. There are challenges but equally opportunities, while there is a long way to run, there is also increasing awareness about issues and people are rising to meet the challenges.
