The latest edition of the Asian Logistics, Maritime and Aviation Conference explores opportunities to reshape our supply chain in light of new demands.

Written by Henrik Batallones

 

The 13th edition of the Asian Logistics, Maritime and Aviation Conference, held last November 21-22 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, focused on the challenges and opportunities facing supply chains in the region and around the world as they seek to be prepared for potential disruptions.

With the theme “Future-Proofing Supply Chains: Diversification, Decarbonisation, Digitalisation”, the annual conference featured over 70 speakers across two days, sharing their insights on various industry developments. Sessions focused on coping with various geopolitical crises, transforming supply chains by embracing new technologies, and embracing sustainability.

Leading the speakers for this year’s event is Fu Xuyin, vice minister for transport of the People’s Republic of China, who discussed new developments promoting logistics competitiveness in the country.

Paul Chan, HKSAR financial secretary, also spoke of Hong Kong’s commitment to becoming a “super-connector” providing logistics and other value-adding services to businesses in the ASEAN, Middle East, and those taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative. This is in line with the latest Policy Address of HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee outlining plans to strengthen the city’s position as an international shipping and aviation hub.

The conference’s plenary session centered on supply chain transformation, particularly its role in addressing various challenges such as geopolitical disruptions, rising transportation costs and labor shortages. Phil Showering, chief executive officer of Gallega Global Logistics, noted that collaboration between stakeholders became more critical in addressing these.

“[The] pandemic has pushed all the industry stakeholders to change and prioritize collaboration for the first time,” he said. “We can facilitate collaboration through electronic trade, breaking down new barriers.”

Gladys Araujo, chief supply chain officer of the Prodensa Group, stressed the need to embrace innovation and sustainability across our operations. “It is essential to work on creating a resilient and agile supply chain, in which we have a truly competitive advantage in our business, where the foundation is ESG and sustainability, using technology as an enabler, or as a tool to make this thing happen, in an ecosystem that should be human-centred, in which I see that the new role of the game is collaboration,” she said.

The second day’s main session focused on sustainability, as companies commit to achieving net zero targets. The Warehouse Group’s sustainability lead David Benattar says it is important to foster a culture of sustainability in the entire company. “The efficient way to create a culture was to do things that touch you very personal,” he said. “[It’s] work that you have to do every day, like going to the gym and even building a muscle that you need to build in the organization.”

Other sessions covered the role of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in improving connectivity and empowering diversified logistics; promoting innovation to enable cross-border logistics and e-commerce; and the role of generative artificial intelligence on optimizing supply chains.

The event also featured an exhibit spotlighting logistics technologies and best practices, business matching sessions and, for the first time, three workshops—on ESG practices, e-commerce strategies and career development for youths interested in a career in supply chain.

SCMAP was once again a supporting organization of the ALMAC, with Supply Chain Philippines acting as a media partner.


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