Beirut, June 24, 2019: The Lebanese Forwarders Syndicate (LFS) inaugurated the FIATA RAME conference (International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in the Region of Africa and Middle East), in Beirut for the first time, after the win of Lebanon to host the conference for the first time following a thorough voting process held during the International Conference of FIATA in India in October, 2018.
Under the patronage of His Excellency Mr. Saad Hariri, in collaboration with the FIATA and in coordination with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the chamber of commerce industry and agriculture in Beirut and Mount Lebanon and with the sponsorship of the Port of Beirut and the Beirut Container Terminal Consortium and the private sector, and Middle East Airlines, in addition to others from the private sector, the conference entitled “Towards 2025: emerging trends and initiatives vitalizing the freight & logistics sector in the MENA region” will be held during two days 24 and 25 June 2019 at Phoenicia Hotel, Beirut.
The conference welcomed governmental, diplomatic and political personalities, as well as freight forwarding and logistics companies from the whole Middle Eastern and African region. And during the opening ceremony, the Lebanese Forwarders syndicate President, Mr. Amer Al-Kaissi said, “We strongly believe that hosting productive conferences such as ours today will in turn stimulate the creation of new long-lasting relationships between local and regional partners that will inevitably prosper our collective economies.
The world we live in is competitive in nature and has place only for the fittest. It is critical we keep ahead of the curve and take advantage of technological disruptions such as uber-freight and drones, that have the power of restructuring the logistics sector as we know it.”
His Excellency Minister of Telecommunications, Mr. Mohamad Choucair said, “Welcome to Beirut, the capital of exhibitions, conferences, beauty and culture. This sector is very important and it is in good hands. We are proud of the achievements of the Ministry of Transportation in this field.”
As for the representative of H.E. Prime Minister Mr. Saad Hariri, H.E. Minister of Transportation Mr. Youssef Finianos, he said, “The silk road mentioned by the FIATA President is being thoroughly taken care of because the ports of Beirut, Tripoli and Saida are the main destinations of the Silk Road and this is a promise I won’t break.
Organizing this conference in Beirut is a big achievement for the LFS due to its importance in refocusing the strategic role of Lebanon in all shipping operations in the region and especially as liaison between the East and the West.
Lebanon is preparing to take a pivotal leap in the infrastructure sector especially transportation and shipping like ports, airports, highways network, railroads… This comes with the success of the Government in securing 11.8 billion dollars from Cedre to launch the biggest operation for redeveloping the infrastructure in Lebanon.”
From his end, the FIATA President, Mr. Barbar Badat, said, “The Syndicate has organized a regional meeting for the industry that provides opportunity for all participants to discuss key topics leading to developing of interregional trade between so many prominent institutions and delegates participating in the meeting.”
As for RAME acting Chairman, Mr. Basil Pietersen, he said, “Governments should be congratulated in the region and as for the Lebanese forwarders syndicate; it should continue to strive excellence and exceptional services to all sectors of the economy. The future of the industry is in your hands, you do not want to be accused by future generations that you haven’t paid attention to skills development.”
RAME 2019 will be hosting during these two days international and local speakers to discuss and debate the logistics and freight forwarding business, the digitalization and future of smart shipping which Lebanon aims to achieve. RAME Beirut 2019 is the perfect meeting point and an inestimable opportunity to exchange knowledge and promote alliances between The Middle East and Africa.